July 10th in History
Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit July 10, 1962 (Photo: NASA)
Today in History
- The city of Dublin, Ireland, is founded (988)
- Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England, which she will occupy for nine days (1533)
- Wyoming becomes a US state (1890)
- The Troubles: Bloody Sunday kills 16 in Belfast, Ireland (1921)
- Meher Baba begins his silence, which will continue for 44 years (1925)
- The Scopes Trial begins in Tennessee (1925)
- Howard Hughes sets an around-the-world speed record of 91 hours (1938)
- The Vichy government is established (1940)
- Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit (1962)
- The National Assembly of Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh (1973)
- John Paul Getty III is kidnapped in Rome (1973)
- French operatives bomb and sink the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior (1985)
- Boris Yeltsin becomes the first elected president of Russia (1991)
- Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison (1992)
Birthdays
- John Calvin, theologian (1509)
- William Blackstone, jurist (1723)
- George Dallas, US vice president and city namesake (1792)
- Camille Pissarro, painter (1830)
- James McNeill Whistler, painter (1834)
- Adolphus Busch, brewer (1839)
- Nikola Tesla, inventor (1856)
- Marcel Proust, author (1871)
- Mary McLeod Bethune, activist (1875)
- Legs Diamond, gangster known as the “clay pigeon of the underworld” (1897)
- John Wyndham, author (1903)
- Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman (1914)
- Mr. Wizard (Don Herbert), television host (1917)
- Reg Smythe, cartoonist, creator of Andy Capp (1917)
- David Brinkley, news anchor (1920)
- Harvey Ball, creator of the “smiley” (1921)
- Jake LaMotta, boxer (1921)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, co-founder of the Special Olympics (1921)
- Fred Gwynne, actor (1926)
- David Dinkins, New York City mayor (1927)
- Nick Adams, actor (1931)
- Alice Munro, author (1931)
- David Hartwell, science fiction editor (1941)
- Arthur Ashe, tennis player (1943)
- Ron Glass, actor (1945)
- Sue Lyon, actress (1946)
- Arlo Guthrie, singer-songwriter (1947)
- Cindy Sheehan, activist (1957)
- Bela Fleck, banjo player (1958)
- Fiona Shaw, actress (1958)
- Seth Goden, management writer (1960)
- Sofia Vergara, actress (1972)
Deaths
- Hadrian, Roman emperor (138)
- Louis Daguerre, photographer (1851)
- Clement Clarke Moore, credited with writing “The Night Before Christmas” (1863)
- Jelly Roll Morton, pianist and bandleader (1941)
- Arthur Fielder, conductor (1979)
- Mel Blanc, voice artist (1989)
Holidays and Celebrations
- Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
- Clerihew Day
- National Day of Commemoration (Ireland)
- Independence Day (Bahamas)
- Pina Colada Day
- Silence Day (followers of Meher Baba)
- Statehood Day (Wyoming)
- Teddy Bear Picnic Day
- Nikola Tesla Day
- Beatles Day (Liverpool and Hamburg)
July 10 is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years). There are 174 days remaining until the end of the year.