On August 10th...

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843 Louis the German and Charles the Bald divided France.

955 Otto I, King of the Germans, defeated the Hungarians in the Battle of Lechfeld.

991 An English army led by Bryhtnoth was defeated by a band of Vikings near Maldon.

1040 Macbeth became King of Scotland after killing King Duncan I at Bothgowanan.

1622 John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges received a land patent for the Province of Maine.

1628 The Swedish warship Vasa sank off Stockholm, Sweden, killing 30 persons.

1664 Austria and the Ottoman Empire signed the Peace of Vásvár.

1729 British General William Howe was born.

1753 Edmund Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States, was born.

1759 King Ferdinand VI of Spain died.

1790 The Columbia completed the first voyage around the world by a ship flying the U.S. flag.

1793 The Louvre palace officially opened in Paris as The Museum Central des Arts.

1809 Ecuador declared its independence from Spain.

1821 Missouri became the 24th state.

1822 An earthquake killed about 20,000 people in Antioch, Syria.

1831 A hurricane killed about 1,500 people in Barbados.

1846 The Smithsonian Institution was founded.

1856 A hurricane washed away 200-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana.

1861 The Battle of Wilson's Creek (Missouri) was fought.

1869 O.B. Brown patented the moving picture projector.

1874 Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States, was born.

1887 An excursion train crashed in Chatsworth, Illinois, killing 101 persons.

1889 Dan Rylands patented the screw cap.

1896 Otto Lilienthal, pioneer in gliding flight, died of injuries sustained in a crash the previous day.

1898 Actor Jack Haley was born.

1907 Criminal Alvin Karpis was born.

1909 Leo Fender, electric guitar innovator, was born.
1909 King Mohammed V of Morocco was born.

1913 A peace treaty ending the Balkan Wars was signed in Bucharest.
1913 Actor Noah Beery Jr. was born.

1920 The Allies recognize Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.
1920 Turkey renounced its claim to Palestine and recognized a British mandate.

1927 Gutzon Borglum started sculpting Mount Rushmore.

1928 Singer Jimmy Dean was born.
1928 Singer Eddie Fisher was born.

1933 Helen Jacobs won the U.S. Women's National Championship.

1940 Singer Bobby Hatfield was born.

1943 Singer Ronnie Spector was born.

1944 U.S. troops recaptured Guam from the Japanese.

1945 Rocket scientist Robert Goddard died.

1947 Singer Ian Anderson was born.

1948 "Candid Camera" debuted on ABC-TV.

1949 The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.

1959 Actress Rosanna Arquette was born.

1960 Actor Antonio Banderas was born.

1963 U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver died.

1966 NASA launched the first lunar orbiter.

1972 Actress Angie Harmon was born.

1975 Jack Nicklaus won the PGA Championship.

1977 David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York, and accused of being the "Son of Sam" killer.

1980 Jack Nicklaus won the PGA Championship.
1980 Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan, died.

1985 Michael Jackson bought ATV Music, including every Beatles song, for $47 million.
1985 Uno Lindstrom juggled a soccer ball for 13.11 miles.

1990 The Magellan spacecraft landed on Venus.
1990 Paramilitary forces massacred more than 127 Muslims in Sri Lanka.

1994 The last British troops left Hong Kong.

1995 The Dodgers forfeited a 2-1, 9th-inning lead to the Cardinals after fans became unruly.

2008 Pádraig Harrington won the PGA Championship.
2008 Musician Isaac Hayes died.

2014 Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship.

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This page was last updated on August 10, 2018.