Scientists at CERN successfully conducted the first test of the Large Hadron Collider
MajorThe world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator was powered up for the first time, sending protons around its 17-mile ring beneath the Swis...
September 10 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2008
2002
Switzerland finally joined the United Nations, becoming the 190th member state
The famously neutral country had rejected UN membership in a 1986 referendum, fearing it would compromise their neutrality. After 16 years of reconsid...
1990
An Iraqi diplomat accidentally left 60 pounds of his country's gold reserves in a London taxi
During the Gulf War crisis, an unnamed Iraqi official hailed a cab with bags containing gold bars worth approximately $750,000. He got out and simply...
1974
Guinea-Bissau gained independence from Portugal after a brutal 11-year guerrilla war
The small West African nation became independent after one of Africa's longest liberation struggles. Portugal, under its authoritarian Estado Novo reg...
1963
Twenty Black students entered public schools in Alabama after Governor George Wallace was forced to end his defiant blockade
MajorWallace had personally tried to block school integration, standing in doorways and ordering National Guard troops to prevent Black students from enrol...
1960
At the Rome Olympics, Abebe Bikila became the first Black African to win Olympic gold, running the marathon barefoot
MajorThe Ethiopian runner couldn't find comfortable running shoes, so he decided to run the 26.2-mile race through Rome's streets completely barefoot, just...
1955
Gunsmoke premiered on CBS, becoming the longest-running primetime TV series in American history
The Western drama starring James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon would run for an astounding 20 seasons and 635 episodes. It defined the TV Western genr...
1939
Canada declared war on Nazi Germany, waiting a full week after Britain to assert its independence
Unlike in World War I when Canada automatically entered because of British declarations, this time Parliament debated and voted separately. The week-l...
1919
Austria and the Allied powers signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain, officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian Empire
MajorOne of the treaties that reshaped Europe after World War I, it reduced Austria to a small landlocked country and forbade unification with Germany. The...
1897
A London taxi driver named George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving
Smith slammed his electric cab into a building at 165 Bond Street after having a few too many. He was fined 25 shillings, equivalent to about $150 tod...
1846
Elias Howe received a patent for the first practical sewing machine
The Massachusetts inventor's machine could sew 250 stitches per minute, dramatically faster than hand sewing. Despite this innovation, Howe struggled...
1823
Simón Bolívar was named president of Peru after liberating the country from Spanish rule
The legendary South American revolutionary added Peru to his growing list of liberated territories, which already included Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuado...
1813
The United States won its first significant naval victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812
MajorCommodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet defeated the British Royal Navy on Lake Erie, giving the U.S. control of the lake and allowing them to recover D...
1608
John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council after the previous leaders proved spectacularly incompetent
The legendary explorer and Pocahontas acquaintance took charge of the struggling Virginia settlement. Smith instituted a harsh "no work, no food" poli...
