10 October in history
9 events that happened on 10 October, from 415 to 1967.
International day
World Mental Health Day
Observed since 1992 under the World Federation for Mental Health and endorsed by the World Health Organisation, World Mental Health Day promotes global awareness of mental health issues and advocates for open discussion and improved access to care.
✦ Anniversary of the day
415 CE 1,611 years ago
Theodosius II inaugurates the second church of Hagia Sophia
Emperor Theodosius II inaugurated the church he had commissioned in Constantinople, the second on the site of Hagia Sophia. A fifth-century list of monuments named it the Great Church; the present building, the last of three, was completed in 537.
680 CE 1,346 years ago
Husayn ibn Ali is killed at the Battle of Karbala
Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who had refused to recognise the Umayyad caliph Yazid I, was killed with most of his small band by Yazid's forces at Karbala. His death became central to Shia identity.
732 CE 1,294 years ago
Charles Martel defeats an Umayyad army near Tours
Frankish forces under Charles Martel defeated an Arab and Berber army led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi between Tours and Poitiers; the traditional date is 10 October. How decisive the battle was remains debated.
1471 CE 555 years ago
Sten Sture the Elder defeats Christian I at Brunkeberg
On a ridge outside Stockholm, the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder, with peasants, miners and burghers, defeated King Christian I of Denmark, who sought to enforce his rule over Sweden under the Kalmar Union. The victory secured Sture's regency.
1760 CE 266 years ago
The Ndyuka Maroons win autonomy by treaty with the Dutch
The Ndyuka, a Maroon people of Suriname descended from Africans who escaped slavery, signed a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities recognising their territorial autonomy. In 2010 Suriname made 10 October a national holiday, the Day of the Maroons.
1845 CE 181 years ago
The US Naval School opens at Annapolis
The Naval School, renamed the United States Naval Academy in 1850, opened at Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen. It has trained American naval officers ever since; Jimmy Carter was among its graduates.
1911 CE 115 years ago
The Wuchang Uprising sparks the Chinese revolution
Revolutionary soldiers mutinied at Wuchang, beginning the Xinhai Revolution. Within months the Qing dynasty abdicated, ending more than two thousand years of imperial rule in China.
1913 CE 113 years ago
Woodrow Wilson triggers the blast that floods the Panama Canal cut
From the White House, President Wilson sent a telegraph signal that detonated the Gamboa dike. Water flowed into the Culebra Cut, joining the canal's waters ten months before it opened to shipping.
1967 CE 59 years ago
The Outer Space Treaty enters into force
The Outer Space Treaty came into effect, forming the basis of international space law. It bars nuclear weapons from orbit and forbids any nation from claiming sovereignty over the Moon or other celestial bodies.
Born on 10 October 6
Died on 10 October 6
Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.