May 10: Holidays, Historical Events, Famous Birthdays & Zodiac Sign
On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven into the rails at Promontory Summit, Utah, uniting a continent and transforming American life forever.
About May 10
May 10 brims with moments when separate worlds were stitched together — sometimes literally. When that final spike was hammered home at Promontory Summit in 1869, the United States' first transcontinental railroad was finished, shrinking a harrowing months-long crossing into a matter of days. Utah's Golden Spike Day still commemorates that achievement. The date also carries deep maternal significance: in 1908, Mother's Day was observed for the first time in the United States in Grafton, West Virginia, and today Mexico and Guatemala join in honoring mothers on the same date.
Centuries earlier, Han dynasty astronomers in 28 BCE recorded one of China's earliest documented sunspot observations — a quiet but remarkable feat of early science. In 1773, Britain's Parliament passed the Tea Act, a bailout for the struggling East India Company that inadvertently lit the fuse for the Boston Tea Party and, with it, the American Revolution. Two years later to the day, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold seized Fort Ticonderoga in a bold early Patriot victory.
The twentieth century brought gravity and grandeur in equal measure. Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister on May 10, 1940, the very day Germany launched its western offensive through France and the Low Countries. Decades later, in 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's first black president, closing the book on apartheid. And in a lighter vein, 1975 saw Sony unveil the Betamax — bringing the dream of home video recording into living rooms for the first time.
Holidays & Observances on May 10
- Children's Day (Maldives)
- 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)
Fun & National Days on May 10
- Clean Up Your Room Day — A nudge from the universe to tackle that pile you've been ignoring all spring — your future self will thank you.
- National Shrimp Day — Fire up the grill or order a shrimp cocktail — today is all about celebrating the ocean's most versatile little crustacean.
- Trust Your Intuition Day — That quiet inner voice deserves a hearing today; pause, listen, and let instinct guide a decision or two.
- World Lupus Day — A day to learn about lupus, support those living with this complex autoimmune disease, and help raise awareness worldwide.
- Mothers at the Wall Day
- National Lipid Day
- National Liver and Onions Day
- National Small Business Day
- National Veal Ban Action Day
On This Day in History
- -28 — Han dynasty astronomers under Emperor Cheng of Han record one of China's earliest dated sunspot observations.
- 1503 — Christopher Columbus reaches the Cayman Islands, naming them Las Tortugas after the abundant sea turtles he finds there.
- 1773 — Britain's Parliament passes the Tea Act, bailing out the East India Company and inadvertently setting the stage for the Boston Tea Party.
- 1775 — Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold lead a small colonial militia to capture Fort Ticonderoga in an early American Revolutionary War victory.
- 1824 — London's National Gallery opens its doors to the public, giving Britons free access to a growing national art collection.
- 1869 — The first transcontinental railroad is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah, as a golden spike unites the eastern and western United States by rail.
- 1872 — Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States, decades before women could legally vote.
- 1876 — Philadelphia opens the Centennial Exposition, a sprawling world's fair celebrating one hundred years of American independence.
- 1933 — The Nazi regime stages massive public book burnings across Germany, destroying works deemed un-German and silencing dissenting voices.
- 1940 — Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on the same day Germany invades France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
- 1962 — Marvel Comics publishes the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk, introducing one of its most enduring and tormented superheroes.
- 1994 — Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, marking the culmination of the long struggle against apartheid.
Famous Birthdays on May 10
- 1760 — Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French soldier and composer who wrote La Marseillaise, the stirring anthem that became the voice of revolutionary France.
- 1838 — John Wilkes Booth, American stage actor whose name lives in infamy as the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.
- 1888 — Max Steiner, Austrian-American composer often called the father of film music, whose scores shaped King Kong and Gone with the Wind.
- 1899 — Fred Astaire, American dancer, singer, and actor whose elegance and innovation made him the gold standard of Hollywood musical performance.
- 1900 — Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-American astronomer who discovered that hydrogen is the most abundant element in stars, reshaping astrophysics.
- 1902 — David O. Selznick, Hollywood producer behind Gone with the Wind and Rebecca, one of the most influential film moguls of cinema's golden age.
- 1960 — Bono, Irish singer-songwriter and activist, frontman of U2, whose voice and advocacy have reached stadiums and world leaders alike.
- 1969 — Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballing icon whose sublime touch and vision made him one of Arsenal and the Netherlands' most beloved players.