1774 – Louis XVI ascends to the throne of France
1902 – Portugal goes bankrupt, but its parliament passes a bill converting its external debt. Contributing to Portugal’s troubles is a recent revolt in its colony of Angola, put down on September 6
1969 – US troops begin attack on Hill 937 (“Hamburger Hill”), Vietnam
1973 – Stanley Cup Final, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL: Yvan Cournoyer has a goal and 2 assists as Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 6-4 to take title, 4 games to 2
1983 – TV sitcom “Laverne and Shirley” last airs on ABC-TV
1989 – NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Calgary Flames beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4 games to 1
2018 – New record auction price for a Latin American artwork of $9.76 million for Diego Rivera’s “The Rivals”
2023 – Heaviest fighting in months between Israel and Palestinian militants as both sides launch air attacks, leaving over 20 dead in Gaza
Author: gil7
Today in History for 10th May 2026
Historical Events
1534 – French navigator Jacques Cartier reaches Newfoundland
1933 – Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) forms
1945 – Soviet troops occupied Prague
1992 – Revival of William Shakespeare’s stage drama “Hamlet” closes at the Criterion Theater, NYC, after 45 performances
1994 – Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa’s first Black president
Famous Birthdays
1830 – François-Marie Raoult, French physicist and chemist (law of Raoult), born in Fournes, France (d. 1901)
1877 – Roderich Mojsisovics-Mojsvar, Austrian music educator and composer, born in Graz, Austria (d. 1954)
1920 – Basil Kelly, Irish barrister, politician and judge (Lord Chief Justice), born in County Monaghan, Ireland (d. 2008)
1928 – Arnold Rüütel, Estonian agronomist and politician (President of Estonia, 2001-06), born in Pahavalla, Estonia (d. 2024)
1970 – Perry Blake, Irish singer-songwriter (The Hunchback of San Francisco), born in Sligo, Ireland
Famous Deaths
1954 – George Hirst, English cricketer (36,323 1st-class runs, 2739 wickets), dies at 82
1968 – Scotty Beckett, American actor (Our Gang, Listen Darling, Battleground), dies from either an overdose, or as a result from a beating at 38
1972 – Rhys Gemmell, Australian tennis player (Australasian C’ships singles and doubles 1921), dies at 76
2001 – Deborah Walley, American actress (b. 1943)
2022 – Bob Lanier, American Basketball HOF center (8 x NBA All-Star; NBA All-Star Game MVP 1974; Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks), dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 9th May 2026
1880 – George Brown, Birtish-Canadian journalist, publisher (Toronto Globe), Premier of Canada West (Liberal: 1858) and one of the Fathers of Confederation, dies at 61 after being shot in the leg on March 25
1919 – James Reese Europe, American ragtime and early jazz arranger, composer, and bandleader in New York, and with the military in France during WWI, dies of a stab wound (received during an argument with one of his drummers), at 38
1957 – Heinrich Campendonk, German painter and wood carver, dies at 67
1968 – Harold Gray, American comic strip artist who created “Little Orphan Annie” (1924), dies at 74
1990 – Patrick Piggott, British pianist, composer, and musicologist (The Life and Music of John Field; The Innocent Diversion – Music in the Life and Writings of Jane Austen), dies at 74
1997 – Willy Hess, Swiss musicologist, composer and famous Beethoven scholar, dies at 90
2001 – William T. Stearn, British botanist, dies at 90
2009 – Chuck Daly, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (2-time NBA champion Detroit Pistons), dies of pancreatic cancer at 78
2018 – Omar Daoud, Libyan footballer, dies in a traffic collision at 35
2019 – Freddie Starr, English comedian and singer (The Freddie Starr Showcase), dies at 76
Historical Events for 9th May 2026
1738 – Britain sends a fleet to the Mediterranean Sea and the West Indies
1846 – Battle of Resaca de la Palma-US sends Mexico back to Rio Grande
1962 – The Beatles sign their first contract with EMI Parlophone
1987 – 183 die aboard a Polish jetliner that crashes in Warsaw
1989 – VP Quayle says in United Negro College Fund speech: “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind” instead of “a mind is terrible thing to waste”
2012 – United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-sex marriage
2017 – Jakarta’s Christian governor Ahok jailed for 2 years for blasphemy
2022 – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa submits his resignation to his brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amid continuing violent protests causing four deaths
Today in History for 9th May 2026
Historical Events
1965 – The USSR launches Luna 5 with the goal of becoming the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, but it crashes during its landing attempt
1992 – 37th Eurovision Song Contest: Linda Martin for Ireland wins singing “Why Me” in Malmo
2018 – Dam bursts after heavy rains near Solai, Kenya, killing at least 41
2019 – English clubs create football history by taking all 4 final spots in Europe’s 2 major competitions; Chelsea and Arsenal qualify in Europa Cup after ‘miracle’ Champions League wins for Liverpool and Spurs
2019 – Pope Francis introduces new rules on reporting sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, criticized for not going far enough
Famous Birthdays
1783 – Alexander Ross, Canadian fur trader, born in Morayshire, Scotland (d. 1856)
1855 – Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer, born in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1932)
1936 – Albert Finney, English actor (The Dresser, Under the Volcano), born in Salford, England (d. 2019)
1955 – Kermit the Frog, Muppet character created by Jim Henson, protagonist of “The Muppet Show”, “born” in Leland, Mississippi
1975 – Chris Diamantopoulos, Canadian actor (The Three Stooges; Silicon Valley), and cartoon Voice (Mickey Mouse, 2013-present), born in Toronto, Ontario
Famous Deaths
1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian composer and violinist, dies at 82
1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist, dies at 71
1966 – Alfred Mendelsohn, Romanian composer, and conductor (Romanian National Opera, 1944-63), and teacher, dies at 56
1979 – Lan Adomian, Russian-born American composer, dies at 73
2019 – Alvin Sargent, American Academy Award-winning screenwriter for “Julia” (1977) and “Ordinary People” (1980), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 8th May 2026
1785 – Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, French statesman, dies at 65
1806 – Robert Morris, English-born merchant and American founding father who signed the US Declaration of Independence, dies at 72
1887 – Alexander Ulyanov, Russian revolutionary and brother of Vladimir Lenin, hanged for the attempted assassination of tsar Alexander III at 21
1936 – Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher (Underworld of Abendlandes), dies at 55
1979 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist, dies at 76
2008 – Eddy Arnold, American country music singer (“Make The World Go Away”; “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”), dies at 89
2016 – William Schallert, American character actor (Patty Duke Show – “Martin”; Get Smart – “The Admiral”), dies at 93
2018 – Mahmoud Hammoud, Lebanese politician and diplomat, dies at 82 or 83
2018 – Anne V. Coates, British film editor (Lawrence of Arabia; The Elephant Man), dies at 92
2025 – David Souter, American jurist (105th Supreme Court Justice, 1990-2009), dies at 85
Historical Events for 8th May 2026
1450 – Jack Cade’s Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt begins against King Henry VI and they march towards London
1639 – William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island
1905 – Union of Unions organizes In Russia under the chairmanship of Paul Miliukov and joins liberal groups demanding parliamentary government and universal suffrage
1906 – Philadelphia A’s pitcher Albert Bender is deployed to left field in 6th inning and responds with 2 HRs in A’s 11-4 win over Boston Americans at Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston
1960 – USSR and Cuba resume diplomatic relations
1974 – FC Magdenburg of East Germany win 14th European Cup Winner’s Cup against AC Milan of Italy 2-0 in Rotterdam
1994 – All-female pro baseball team Colorado Silver Bullets play their first game
2019 – Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi who spent eight years in prison on death row for blasphemy arrives in Canada
Today in History for 8th May 2026
Historical Events
1624 – Dutch Nassau fleet reaches port of Callao in Peru intending to ransack the annual Spanish silver ship convoy, misses them by five days
1909 – American Albert Raines runs world record marathon (2:46:04.6) in NYC
1976 – Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner’s musical “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” closes at Mark Hellinger, NYC, after 7 performances
1988 – Brazilian musical revue “Oba Oba” closes at Ambassador Theater, NYC, after 46 performances
1989 – US space shuttle STS-30 lands
Famous Birthdays
1906 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director (General della Rovere, Open City), born in Rome, Italy (d. 1977)
1911 – Robert Johnson, American blues singer-songwriter, and guitarist (King of Delta Blues Singers), born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi (d. 1938)
1945 – Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, Dutch politician, jurist and first chair of the Authority for Financial Markets (1999-2007), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 2020)
1980 – Benny Yau, Canadian TV presenter (What’s On), born in Hong Kong
1981 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor (Arrow), born in Toronto, Ontario
Famous Deaths
1846 – Giacomo Cordella, Italian composer, dies at 59
1880 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (Madame Bovary), dies at 58
1960 – Hugo Alfvén, Swedish violinist, conductor, and composer (Midsommarvaka – Midsummer Vigil), dies at 88
1999 – Dana Plato, American actress (Kimberly-Diff’rent Strokes), dies at 34
2018 – James Scott, American boxer and felon, dies at 71
Famous Deaths for 7th May 2026
1673 – Johannes Teellinck, Dutch vicar, dies at about 58
1736 – John Weldon, British composer, dies at 60
1836 – Norbert Burgmuller, German composer, drowns during an epileptic seizure at 26
1840 – Caspar David Friedrich, German painter, chiefly of landscapes with contemplative figures in the Romantic style, dies at 65
1934 – Edward Naylor, English composer, dies at 67
1965 – Charles Sheeler, American Modernist-Precisionist artist, commercial photographer, and the avant-garde film maker (Manhatta), dies at 81
1996 – Don McNeill, American radio and TV host (The Breakfast Club; Don McNeill TV Club), dies at 88
2002 – Xavier Montsalvatge, Spanish composer (El gato con botas), dies at 90
2016 – John Krish, British documentary filmmaker (Let My People Go), dies at 92
2020 – John Macurdy [McCurdy], American operatic bass (Metropolitan Opera, 1962-2000), dies at 91
Historical Events for 7th May 2026
1355 – 1,200 Jews of Toledo, Spain killed by Count Henry of Trastamara
1800 – Indiana Territory organized
1856 – Argentina and Brazil sign a navigation pact
1938 – Dutch Minister of Justice Goseling calls fugitives of Nazi-Germany “undesired strangers”
1955 – USSR signs peace treaty with France and Great Britain
1982 – “Is There Life after High School?” opens at Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 12 performances
2011 – 137th Kentucky Derby: John Velazquez aboard Animal Kingdom wins in 2:02.04
2024 – Stormy Daniels testifies in court to a 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump as part of a hush money trial against Trump