- 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
- 1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England pending the selection of a king.
- 1497 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
- 1534 – Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1688 – King Narai nominates Phetracha as regent, leading to the revolution of 1688 in which Phetracha becomes king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
- 1768 – Rioting occurs in London after John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III.
- 1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the right to sell tea directly to North America. The legislation leads to the Boston Tea Party.
- 1774 – Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette become King and Queen of France.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Second Continental Congress takes place in Philadelphia.
- 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon wins a victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
- 1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public.
- 1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks suspend the payment of specie, triggering a national banking crisis and an economic depression whose severity was not surpassed until the Great Depression.
- 1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 22 and injuring over 120.
- 1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys mutiny against their commanding officers at Meerut.
- 1865 – American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.
- 1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah with the golden spike.
- 1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
- 1876 – The Centennial Exposition is opened in Philadelphia.
- 1881 – Carol I is crowned the King of the Romanian Kingdom.
- 1904 – The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company.
- 1908 – Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
- 1916 – Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island.
- 1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef.
- 1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1940 – World War II: German fighters accidentally bomb the German city of Freiburg.
- 1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. On the same day, Germany invades France, Belgium and Luxembourg.Meanwhile, the United Kingdom occupies Iceland.
- 1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.hai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
- 1946 – First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
- 1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk.
- 1967 – The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
- 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder.
- 1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills over 200 workers.
- 1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.
- 1996 – A blizzard strikes Mount Everest, killing eight climbers by the next day.
- 1997 – The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes Iran’s Khorasan Province killing 1,567 people.
- 2002 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
- 2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about 60 feet from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
- 2012 – The Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside of a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people.
- 2013 – One World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Births on May 10
- 874 – Meng Zhixiang, Chinese general and emperor (d. 934)
- 955 – Al-Aziz Billah, Fatimid caliph (d. 996)
- 1491 – Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon (d. 1521)
- 1604 – Jean Mairet, French author and playwright (d. 1686)
- 1697 – Jean-Marie Leclair, French violinist and composer (d. 1764)
- 1727 – Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, French economist and politician (d. 1781)
- 1755 – Robert Gray, American captain and explorer (d. 1806)
- 1760 – Johann Peter Hebel, German author and poet (d. 1826)
- 1760 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French captain, engineer, and composer (d. 1836)
- 1770 – Louis-Nicolas Davout, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1823)
- 1788 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer (d. 1827)
- 1812 – William Henry Barlow, English engineer (d. 1902)
- 1813 – Montgomery Blair, American lieutenant and politician, 20th United States Postmaster General (d. 1883)
- 1838 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
- 1841 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American publisher and broadcaster (d. 1918)
- 1843 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish author and playwright (d. 1920)
- 1847 – Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
- 1855 – Yukteswar Giri, Indian guru and educator (d. 1936)
- 1872 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (d. 1950)
- 1876 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian poet and playwright (d. 1918)
- 1878 – Konstantinos Parthenis, Greek painter (d. 1967)
- 1878 – Gustav Stresemann, German journalist and politician, Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)
- 1879 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (d. 1926)
- 1886 – Karl Barth, Swiss theologian and author (d. 1968)
- 1888 – Max Steiner, Austrian-American composer and conductor (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
- 1891 – Mahmoud Mokhtar, Egyptian sculptor and academic (d. 1934)
- 1893 – Tonita Peña, San Ildefonso Pueblo (Native American) artist (d. 1949)
- 1894 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-American composer and conductor (d. 1979)
- 1897 – Einar Gerhardsen, Norwegian politician, Prime Minister of Norway (d. 1987)
- 1898 – Ariel Durant, American historian and author (d. 1981)
- 1899 – Fred Astaire, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
- 1900 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, English-American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1979)
- 1901 – John Desmond Bernal, Irish-English crystallographer and physicist (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Hildrus Poindexter, American bacteriologist (d. 1987)
- 1902 – David O. Selznick, American director and producer (d. 1965)
- 1903 – Otto Bradfisch, German economist, jurist, and SS officer (d. 1994)
- 1905 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1972)
- 1908 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Maybelle Carter, American autoharp player (d. 1978)
- 1911 – Bel Kaufman, American author and educator (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Denis Thatcher, English soldier and businessman, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Milton Babbitt, American composer and educator (d. 2011)
- 1918 – T. Berry Brazelton, American pediatrician and author (d. 2018)
- 1918 – Desmond MacNamara, Irish painter, sculptor, and author (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Ella T. Grasso, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1981)
- 1920 – Basil Kelly, Northern Irish barrister, judge and politician (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Bert Weedon, English guitarist (d. 2012)
- 1922 – David Azrieli, Polish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Nancy Walker, American actress, singer, and director (d. 1992)
- 1923 – Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan general and politician, President of Azerbaijan (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Otar Korkia, Georgian basketball player and coach (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian general and politician, President of Bolivia (d. 2002)
- 1927 – Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
- 1928 – Arnold Rüütel, Estonian agronomist and politician, President of Estonia
- 1928 – Lothar Schmid, German chess player (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Audun Boysen, Norwegian runner (d. 2000)
- 1929 – George Coe, American actor and producer (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Antonine Maillet, Canadian author and playwright
- 1930 – George E. Smith, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1931 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Jean Becker, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1935 – Larry Williams, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1980)
- 1937 – Tamara Press, Ukrainian shot putter and discus thrower
- 1938 – Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis player
- 1940 – Arthur Alexander, American country-soul singer-songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1940 – Wayne Dyer, American author and educator (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Jim Calhoun, American basketball player and coach
- 1944 – Jim Abrahams, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1944 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
- 1946 – Donovan, Scottish singer-songwriter
- 1946 – Graham Gouldman, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1946 – Dave Mason, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Caroline B. Cooney, American author
- 1949 – Miuccia Prada, Italian fashion designer
- 1952 – Sly Dunbar, Jamaican drummer
- 1955 – Mark David Chapman, American murderer
- 1956 – Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist (d. 1995)
- 1957 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (d. 1979)
- 1958 – Gaétan Boucher, Canadian speed skater
- 1958 – Rick Santorum, American lawyer and politician, United States Senator from Pennsylvania
- 1959 – Victoria Rowell, American actress
- 1959 – Danny Schayes, American basketball player
- 1959 – Cindy Hyde-Smith, American politician, United States Senator from Mississippi, Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
- 1960 – Bono, Irish singer-songwriter, musician and activist
- 1960 – Dean Heller, American lawyer and politician, United States Senator from Nevada, Secretary of State of Nevada
- 1960 – Merlene Ottey, Jamaican-Slovenian runner
- 1963 – Lisa Nowak, American commander and astronaut
- 1963 – Debbie Wiseman, English composer and conductor
- 1965 – Linda Evangelista, Canadian model
- 1966 – Jonathan Edwards, English triple jumper
- 1967 – Eion Crossan, New Zealand rugby player
- 1968 – Al Murray, English comedian and television host
- 1968 – Tatyana Shikolenko, Russian javelin thrower
- 1969 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1969 – John Scalzi, American author and blogger
- 1970 – Gabriela Montero, Venezuelan-American pianist
- 1970 – David Weir, Scottish footballer
- 1971 – Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
- 1972 – Christian Wörns, German footballer
- 1973 – Joshua Eagle, Australian tennis player
- 1973 – Ollie le Roux, South African rugby player
- 1974 – Sylvain Wiltord, French footballer
- 1975 – Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- 1975 – Adam Deadmarsh, Canadian-American ice hockey player
- 1978 – Bruno Cheyrou, French footballer
- 1981 – Samuel Dalembert, Haitian-Canadian basketball player
- 1981 – Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
- 1983 – Gustav Fridolin, Swedish journalist and politician, Swedish Minister of Education
- 1984 – Edward Mujica, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1985 – Ryan Getzlaf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Jon Schofield, English canoe racer
- 1987 – Wilson Chandler, American basketball player
- 1990 – Salvador Pérez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1990 – Ivana Španović, Serbian long jumper
- 1995 – Missy Franklin, American swimmer1995 – Gabriella Papadakis, French ice dancer
- 1996 – Tyus Jones, American basketball player
- 1996 – Kateřina Siniaková, Czech tennis player
Deaths on May 10
- 1299 – Theingapati, heir to the Pagan Kingdom
- 1403 – Katherine Swynford, widow of John of Gaunt
- 1482 – Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
- 1493 – Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1433)
- 1521 – Sebastian Brant, German author (b. 1457)
- 1566 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (b. 1501)
- 1569 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (b. 1500)
- 1641 – Johan Banér, Swedish field marshal (b. 1596)
- 1717 – John Hathorne, American merchant and politician (b. 1641)
- 1726 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (b. 1670)
- 1774 – Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
- 1787 – William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (b. 1715)
- 1794 – Élisabeth of France, French princess and youngest sibling of Louis XVI (b.1764)
- 1798 – George Vancouver, English navigator and explorer (b. 1757)
- 1807 – Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French general (b. 1725)
- 1818 – Paul Revere, American engraver and soldier (b. 1735)
- 1829 – Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
- 1849 – Hokusai, Japanese painter and illustrator (b. 1760)
- 1863 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (b. 1824)
- 1868 – Henry Bennett, American lawyer and politician (b. 1808)
- 1889 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1826)
- 1891 – Carl Nägeli, Swiss botanist and mycologist (b. 1817)
- 1897 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino soldier and politician, President of the Philippines (b. 1863)
- 1910 – Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist and academic (b. 1826)
- 1945 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (b. 1889)
- 1945 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (b. 1898)
- 1960 – Yury Olesha, Russian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1899)
- 1964 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter, illustrator, and set designer (b. 1881)
- 1965 – Hubertus van Mook, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1894)
- 1968 – Scotty Beckett, American actor and singer (b. 1929)
- 1974 – Hal Mohr, American director and cinematographer (b. 1894)
- 1977 – Joan Crawford, American actress (year of birth disputed)
- 1982 – Peter Weiss, German playwright and painter (b. 1916)
- 1988 – Shen Congwen, Chinese author and academic (b. 1902)
- 1990 – Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (b. 1916)
- 1994 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Shel Silverstein, American poet, author, and illustrator
- 2000 – Jules Deschênes, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Dick Sprang, American illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2001 – Sudhakarrao Naik, Indian politician, Governor of Himachal Pradesh (b. 1934)
- 2002 – Kaifi Azmi, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Yves Robert, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Milan Vukcevich, Serbian-American chemist and chess player (b. 1937)
- 2006 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1969)
- 2008 – Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
- 2010 – Frank Frazetta, American illustrator and painter (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Horst Faas, German photographer and journalist (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Carroll Shelby, American race car driver and designer (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Gunnar Sønsteby, Norwegian captain and author (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Chris Burden, American sculptor, illustrator, and academic (b. 1946)
- 2018 – David Goodall, Australian botanist and ecologist (b. 1914)
- 2019 – Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, Spanish politician and chemist (b. 1951)
Holidays and observances on May 10
- Children’s Day (Maldives)
- Christian feast day:
- Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus
- Calepodius
- Catald
- Comgall
- Damien of Molokai
- Gordianus and Epimachus
- Job (Roman Catholic Church, pre-1969 calendar)
- John of Ávila
- May 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Confederate Memorial Day (North Carolina and South Carolina)
- Constitution Day (Micronesia)
- Earliest possible day on which Pentecost can fall, while June 13 is the latest; celebrated 50 days after Easter Day.(Christianity)
- Golden Spike Day (Promontory, Utah)
- Mother’s Day (Guatemala, and Mexico)