10 October History
- 19 - Germanicus, the best loved of Roman princes, dies of poisoning. On his deathbed he accuses Piso, the governor of Syria, of poisoning him.
- 732 - At Tours, France, Charles Martel kills Abd el-Rahman and halts the Muslim invasion of Europe.
- 1733 - France declares war on Austria over the question of Polish succession.
- 1789 - In Versailles France, Joseph Guillotin says the most humane way of carrying out a death sentence is decapitation by a single blow of a blade.
- 1794 - Russian General Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov crushes the rebel Polish army at Maciejowice, Poland.
- 1845 - The U.S. Naval Academy is founded at Annapolis, Md.
- 1863 - The first telegraph line to Denver is completed.
- 1877 - Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer is buried at West Point in New York.
- 1911 - Revolution in China begins with a bomb explosion and the discovery of revolutionary headquarters in Hankow. The revolutionary movement spread rapidly through west and southern China, forcing the abdication of the last Ch'ing emperor, six-year-old Henry Pu-Yi. By October 26, the Chinese Republic will be proclaimed, and on December 4, Premier Yuan Shih-K'ai will sign a truce with rebel general Li Yuan-hung.
- 1911 - The Panama Canal opens.
- 1933 - At Rio de Janeiro, nations of the Western Hemisphere sign a non-aggression and conciliation treaty. President Roosevelt adopts a "good neighbor" policy toward Latin America and announces a policy of nonintervention in Latin American affairs at the December 7th International American Conference at Montevideo, Uruguay.
- 1941 - Soviet troops halt the German advance on Moscow.
- 1966 - U.S. Forces launch Operation Robin, in Hoa Province south of Saigon in South Vietnam, to provide road security between villages.
- 1970 - The Quebec Provincial Minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte, is kidnapped by terrorists.
- 1973 - Spiro Agnew resigns the vice presidency amid accusations of income tax evasion. President Richard Nixon names Gerald Ford as the new vice president. Agnew is later convicted and sentenced to three years probation and fined $10,000.
10 October Birthdays
- 1731 - Henry Cavendish, English physicist who measured the density and mass of the Earth.
- 1813 - Giuseppe Verdi, composer (Rigoletto, Aida).
- 1900 - Helen Hayes, American actress.
- 1901 - Alberto Giacometti, sculptor and painter.
- 1920 - Thelonius Monk, jazz pianist and composer.
- 1924 - James Clavell, novelist (Shogun, Noble House).
- 1930 - Harold Pinter, British playwright (The Homecoming, Betrayal).