Daily Calendar for May 10th, 2021

The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

1500s

• 1503: Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there

1740s

• Born 1746: Gaspard Monge (mathematician)

1750s

• Born 1755: Robert Gray (sailor)

1770s

• 1774: Louis XVI became King of France

1810s

• Died 1818: Paul Revere (patriot)

1830s

• Born 1838: John Wilkes Booth (assassin)

1860s

• Died 1863: Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Confederate Army general)

• 1869: Golden spike linked Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads at Promontory Point, Utah, creating the first continental railroad

1870s

• 1872: Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States

• 1876: The Centennial Exhibition opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at which Caroline Shawk Brooks displayed her sculpture of a woman's face made out of butter. The rendering, Dreaming Iolanthe, sparked a movement of serious artistic butter sculpting in America. Butter sculptures remain a popular attraction at state fairs

1880s

• Born 1885: Mae Murray (actress)

• Born 1888: Max Steiner (composer)

1890s

• Born 1899: Fred Astaire (actor & dancer)

1900s

• 1902: The Society of American Magicians was founded

• 1908: Mother's Day first celebrated, West Virginia

• Born 1909: Maybelle Carter (country musician)

1920s

• 1924: J. Edgar Hoover was appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

1940s

• Born 1946: Donovan Leitch (singer)

1960s

• Born 1960: Bono (singer)

• 1960: First submerged voyage around world completed by submarine USS Triton

1970s

• Died 1977: Joan Crawford (actress)

• Born 1978: Kenan Thompson (actor)

1990s

• 1994: Nelson Mandela sworn in as first black president of South Africa

• 1997: An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran killed at least 2,400 people

• Died 1999: Shel Silverstein (poet, author)

2000s

• 2002: FBI agent Robert Hanssen was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow

• Died 2002: David Riesman (author)

2010s

• 2011: Sonic boom possibly due to meteor, Virginia Beach, Virginia