Behind History For December 10 – Today in History

Behind History For December 10

1901 – The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

1902 – The opening of the reservoir of the Aswan Dam in Egypt.

1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.

1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.

1909 – Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1932 – Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.

1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication.

1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near British Malaya.

1941 – World War II: Battle of the Philippines: Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon.

1942 – World War II: Government of Poland in exile send Raczyński’s Note (the first official report on the Holocaust) to 26 governments who signed the Declaration by United Nations.

1948 – The Human Rights Convention is signed by the United Nations.

1949 – Chinese Civil War: The People’s Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek  and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

1953 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives the Nobel Prize in literature.

1963 – Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.

1963 – An assassination attempt on the British High Commissioner in Aden kills two people and wounds dozens more.

1968 – Japan’s biggest heist, the still-unsolved “300 million yen robbery”, is carried out in Tokyo.

1978 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1979 – Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.

1983 – Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín.

1984 – United Nations General Assembly recognizes the Convention against Torture.

1989 – Mongolian Revolution: At the country’s first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.

1993 – The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages.

1994 – Rwandan genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.

1995 – The Israeli army withdraws from Nablus pursuant to the terms of Oslo Accord.

1996 – The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.

2014 – Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein was killed after the suppression of a demonstration by Israeli forces in the village (Turmus’ayya) in Ramallah.

2016 – Two explosions outside a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, kill 38 people and injure 166 others.

2017 – ISIL is defeated in Iraq.