What Happened On
Eye of God
May 10, 2003
NASA features for its "photo of the day" what became known as "The Eye of God" and an instant Internet classic.
It is the Helix Nebula, which is the closest known example of a planetary nebula created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. It lies about 655 light-years away.
Into Thin Air
May 10, 1996
Eight climbers on Mount Everest die after being caught in a blizzard while attempting to descend from the summit. It was the worst loss of life ever on the mountain on a single day.
Journalist Jon Krakauer based his best-selling book Into Thin Air (1997) on this tragedy.
This was the deadliest season on Mount Everest, with 12 people dying trying to reach the summit.
The Six Milion Dollar Man opening, M2-F2 wreckage, crash footage, Bruce Peterson
The Six Milion Dollar Man opening, M2-F2 wreckage, crash footage, Bruce Peterson
Six Million Dollar Crash
May 10, 1967
A NASA astronaut crashes during a test flight. The footage of the crash was used in opening credits for the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-78).
NASA astronaut Bruce Peterson had crashed during the landing of a Northrop M2-F2, hitting the ground at approximately 250 mph (402 km/h) and tumbling six times. Peterson survived the crash, but required extensive hospital care, losing eyesight in one eye due to a secondary infection while in the hospital. The TV show The Six Million Dollar Man subsequently used the footage of his crash in the opening credits of the show. Peterson was reportedly unhappy to have the footage shown over and over again.
The wingless M2-F2 was one of the lifting body research vehicles used to pave the way for space shuttle landings from space. The wreckage now hangs in the Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum.
Nazi Book Burnings
May 10, 1933
Under direction of Adolf Hitler's propaganda director Joseph Goebbels, thousands of Nazis, professors, and students gathered to burn a massive pile of books that had been collected by storm troopers. The offending authors included Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Erich Maria Remarque.
John Dillinger Released from Prison
May 10, 1933
The notorious criminal John Dillinger is released from prison after a petition of 188 signatures was presented to the governor. Even his victim signed the petition. He had served eight and a half years for armed robbery. He immediately began his famous crime spree using skills he learned in prison, robbing his first bank the following month.
Dillinger's stepmother became ill just before he was released from the prison, and died before he could see her.
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
May 10, 1869
The U.S. transcontinental railroad is completed with the driving of the Golden Spike, Promontory Point, Utah.
Michelangelo Begins Work on Sistine Chapel Ceiling
May 10, 1508
The Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo begins work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He completed the masterpiece in 1512.
World War II
May 10, 1941
Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's private secretary, embarks on a solo peace mission to Scotland - without Hitler's permission. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
World War II
May 10, 1940
Germany invades France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Belgium and the Netherlands fell within a matter of days. France would fall the following month.
Lightning Experiment
May 10, 1752
Thomas-Francois Dalibard uses a large metal pole to conduct electricity from lightning, proving Benjamin Franklin's theory that lightning and electricity were related. Franklin had proposed an experiment that would draw lightning through a 30-foot rod. Dalibard after hearing of the idea gave it a try. Franklin, himself, would reportedly try a similar experiment a month later using a kite instead of a pole.
Charity Hospital - circa 1900
Charity Hospital - circa 1900
Charity Hospital, New Orleans
May 10, 1736
Property is purchased for the building of a charity hospital in New Orleans. It would become the second oldest continuously-operated public hospital in the U.S. Charity Hospital was established by the will of French seaman and shipbuilder Jean Louis. It was closed as result of Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Birthdays
Lisa Nowak, astronaut and mugshot
Lisa Nowak, astronaut and mugshot
"Astro-Nut"?
Lisa Nowak
Born May 10, 1963
American astronaut. In 2007 she was arrested for attempted kidnapping after driving from Houston to Orlando and confronting another female astronaut who was dating her ex-boyfriend. Her travel supplies included adult diapers, a black wig, rubber tubing, gloves, BB-pistol, and plastic bags.
Nowak flew in space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in July 2006, where she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station.
First U.S. General Killed by Enemy Fire During the Vietnam War
Major General Bruno Arthur Hochmuth
Born May 10, 1911 d. 1967
United States Marine Corps major general. He was the first U.S. general killed by enemy fire during the Vietnam War; the helicopter he was riding in was gunned down over Hué, Vietnam. Four other Marines, and a South Vietnamese Army aide were also killed in the incident.
Lincoln Assassin
John Wilkes Booth
Born May 10, 1838 d. 1865
American Shakespearean actor. He assassinated U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater (1865). He was reportedly shot and killed in Garrett's Barn in Virginia.
First African American Governor of a U.S. State
P. B. S. Pinchback (Pinckney Benton Stewart)
Born May 10, 1837 d. 1921
American publisher, politician. He was the first African American governor of a U.S. state (1872, Louisiana). Born to a black freed slave and her former master in Georgia. When the lieutenant governor Oscar Dunn died, Pinchback, as Senate president pro tempore, succeeded to the position of acting lieutenant governor (1871). In 1872, when the governor was impeached, state law required the governor to step aside until his impeachment case was tried. Pinchback served in his place for about 6 weeks until his term ended.
Lincoln demonstrates his deadly advantage to Shields
Lincoln demonstrates his deadly advantage to Shields
Challenged Abraham Lincoln to a Duel
James Shields
Born May 10, 1810 d. 1879
American general, politician. He is the only person to have served as a U.S. Senator for three states: Illinois (1849-55), Minnesota (1858-59), and Missouri (1879).
In 1842, future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wrote a disparaging letter to the newspaper calling Shields a "fool as well as a liar" and describing him, "If I was deaf and blind I could tell him by the smell." Lincoln wrote the letter under the pseudonym of a farmer named Rebecca. Afterwards, Lincoln's future wife Mary Todd and a close friend continued writing insulting letters to the paper without Lincoln's knowledge. When Lincoln took responsibility for the letters, Shields challenged him to a duel. As the one challenged, Lincoln chose the weapons. Since Shields was an excellent marksman, Lincoln chose cavalry broadswords which due to Lincoln's height and long arms gave him a deadly advantage. They met at a popular dueling site where the two men faced each other with a plank between them that neither was allowed to cross. Lincoln swung his sword cutting a tree branch above Shields' head, demonstrating to Shields that he was at a fatal disadvantage. The two men then called a truce, later becoming good friends.
Bono (Paul Hewson)
Born May 10, 1960
Irish Grammy-winning, Hall of Fame singer-songwriter, philanthropist, with the band U2. Music: Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983) and With You Or Without You (1987, #1).
His breakout performance was in 1985, when Bono and his band U2 played during Live Aid with a worldwide TV audience of 1.5 billion people.
The name Bono is from his previous nickname "Bono Vox", which is from the Latin word "bonavox" for "good voice".
John Lennon's Killer
Mark David Chapman
Born May 10, 1955
American assassin. He shot and killed John Lennon (1980). Lennon had autographed an album for him earlier that day. Chapman was angry at John Lennon for remarks he had made years before stating that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and that Lennon in his song Imagine "told us to imagine no possessions and there he was, with millions of dollars and yachts and farms and country estates, laughing at people like me who had believed the lies and bought the records and built a big part of their lives around his music."
Chapman also identified with the protagonist Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's book: The Catcher in the Rye, who represented teenage angst and rebellion and opposed phonies in the adult world. At the time of the shooting, Chapman had a copy of The Catcher in the Rye in which he had written "This is my statement," signing it "Holden Caulfield."
While his lawyers recommended an insanity defense, Chapman insisted on pleading guilty, stating that God told him to plead guilty. He was sentenced to 20 years to life.
Donovan (Donovan Leitch)
Born May 10, 1946
Scottish singer, songwriter. Music: Mellow Yellow (1967) and The Hurdy Gurdy Man (1969).
Gary Owens
Born May 10, 1934 d. 2015
American actor, disc jockey. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Gong Show (1976-77, host).
Nancy Walker (Anna Myrtle Swoyer)
Born May 10, 1922 d. 1992
American actress. TV: Rhoda (Rhoda's mom), McMillan and Wife (Mildred the maid), and in commercials as Rosie - the quicker picker upper.
George Schwartz Welch
Born May 10, 1918 d. 1954
American WWII flying ace. He was one of the few U.S. pilots to engage the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor, claiming two kills, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. It has been alleged he broke the sound barrier in a dive two weeks before Chuck Yeager (note: Yeager's feat was during level flight). However, Welch never claimed this and some historians discredit this claim. Welch was portrayed in the film Tora! Tora! Tora (1970) by Rick Cooper.
David O. Selznick
Born May 10, 1902 d. 1965
American Oscar-winning producer. Film: King Kong (1933), Gone with the Wind (1939, Oscar), and Rebecca (1940, Oscar).
V.T. Hamlin (Vincent Trout Hamlin)
Born May 10, 1900 d. 1993
American cartoonist. Creator of Alley Oop (1932).
Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz)
Born May 10, 1899 d. 1987
American dancer. His career spanned six decades.
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton
Born May 10, 1850 d. 1931
British tea maker, yachtsman. He began his tea empire in 1871 with a single provision shop in Glasgow.
Augustin Jean Fresnel
Born May 10, 1788 d. 1827
French physicist, pioneer in light theory.
Deaths
Killer Clown
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Died May 10, 1994 b. 1942
American serial killer, aka "Killer Clown." He confessed to raping and killing 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978 - more than any other person in U.S. history up to that time. He buried 26 of his victims in the crawl space under his house.
Gacy regularly performed as "Pogo the Clown" or "Patches the Clown" at children's hospitals, local parties, political functions, and charitable events.
In 1968, Gacy was convicted of the sodomy of a teenage boy and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, but was paroled after serving 18 months. He began his murder spree in 1972.
He was executed in 1994.
Susan Oliver as Vina/Orion Slave Girl
Susan Oliver as Vina/Orion Slave Girl
Susan Oliver (Charlotte Gercke)
Died May 10, 1990 b. 1932
American actress, director, aviator. Oliver played green-skinned Vina in the original Star Trek pilot The Cage (1964). Due to the raciness of the scene, it was not used; however, two years later, Oliver's performance was used in the two-part episode The Menagerie (1966) as the green-skinned Orion Slave Girl.
An accomplished pilot, she was the fourth woman to fly a single-engine aircraft solo across the Atlantic Ocean and the second to do it from New York City (1967), and one of the first women to pilot a Learjet. TV: Peyton Place (1966, Susan Howard) and Days of Our Lives (1975-76).
Crawford in Maybelline ad 1946 (left) and Night Gallery 1969
Crawford in Maybelline ad 1946 (left) and Night Gallery 1969
Joan Crawford (Lucille LeSueur)
Died May 10, 1977 b. 1904
American actress. She starred in the pilot for TV's Night Gallery (1969) as a "…blind queen who reigns in a carpeted penthouse on Fifth Avenue—an imperious, predatory dowager who will soon find a darkness blacker than blindness". Film: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (John Rowland)
Died May 10, 1904 b. 1841
British-born American reporter, explorer. Upon finding Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone in Africa in 1871 he queried, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Stonewall Jackson (Thomas Jonathan Jackson)
Died May 10, 1863 b. 1824
Confederate Civil War general. He was shot by friendly fire. His injuries required the amputation of his left arm. He died eight days later from pneumonia. Quote: "War means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight. Armies are not called out to dig trenches, to live in camps, but to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country, and do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time. This will involve great destruction of life and property while it lasts; but such a war will of necessity be of brief continuance, and so would be an economy of life and property in the end."
Paul Revere
Died May 10, 1818 b. 1735
American soldier, hero of the American Revolution. He is best known for alerting the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" (1861).
He was also the first American to successfully roll copper into sheets for use as sheathing on naval vessels (1800).
John Lund
Died May 10, 1992 b. 1911
American actor. Film: To Each His Own (1946) and A Foreign Affair (1948).
Scotty Beckett
Died May 10, 1968 b. 1929
American actor, one of the Little Rascals. He appeared in 15 Our Gang films. TV: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (Winky).
Clarence Edward Mulford
Died May 10, 1956 b. 1883
American author. He created the character Hopalong Cassidy, which was the first character featured on a metal lunch box (1950-53).
John Wesley Hyatt
Died May 10, 1920 b. 1837
American inventor. He invented the first commercially viable method of producing celluloid (1869), the first successful plastic. He is also noted for his work in roller bearings, water purification, billiard balls, bowling balls, and checkers.
George Vancouver
Died May 10, 1798 b. 1757
British explorer for whom Vancouver Island is named.
Louis XV
Died May 10, 1774 b. 1710
King of France (1715-74), became king at the age of 5.
Leonhard Fuchs
Died May 10, 1566 b. 1501
German botanist for whom the shrub Fuchsia is named.
Paolo Toscanelli
Died May 10, 1482 b. 1397
Italian mapmaker. His map incorrectly showed Asia as only 3,000 miles west of Europe, leading Christopher Columbus to believe he had landed in Asia when in fact he had landed in the Americas.