July 10

138 In his last years Roman emperor Hadrian suffered from dropsy of the heart and was tubercular. Hadrian became mentally unstable and in his last months his successor, Antonius took control. Death came to the emperor slowly and painfully. He wrote a letter in which he said how terrible it was to long for one's passing and yet be unable to find it. Hadrian finally died on July 10, 138 in his villa at the seaside resort of Baiae.

1212 The most severe of several early fires of London burnt most of the city to the ground on July 10,1212 (see below). The fire started south of the Thames, in Southwark. The blaze reached London Bridge where the wooden buildings built on top caught fire as well trapping southerner.people fleeing northwards from Southwark. 3,000 died that day on London Bridge, caught in the inferno or drowned in the river.

1460 On July 10, 1460 the army of Edward, Earl of March and Warwick the Kingmaker defeated Henry VI of England's Lancastrian forces in the Battle of Northampton. The battle was the first in which artillery was used in England. After the battle, Henry was found in his tent by Warwick and March. Showing the king proper respect they escorted him to Delapre Abbey, then Northampton, and finally London, where the tower garrison surrendered soon after.

1559 Francis II ascended the throne of France at the age of fifteen after the accidental death of his father, Henry II, on July 10, 1559. The fragile Francis II suffered from reoccurring headaches and dizzy spells. In addition he had a face swollen with boils and a constantly runny nose. The health of the king deteriorated in November 1560 and after only 17 months on the throne, Francis II died in December 1560 in Orléans, Loiret.

1856 The inventor Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia). His father, Milutin Tesla, was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Nikola was able to do integral calculus in his head, leading his teachers to believe he was cheating. The picture below shows Tesla's house (parish hall) in Smiljan where he was born, and the rebuilt church, where his father served.

1871 The novelist Marcel Proust was born in Auteuil, Paris on July 10, 1871. Marcel's father, Adrien Proust, was a famous doctor and epidemiologist, who wrote numerous articles and books on medicine and hygiene. From the age of 9 he suffered from asthma and Marcel's studies at Lycee Condorcet were interrupted from time to time by his illness but he wrote for the school magazines and was a good student. However he was shunned and mocked by his fellow students for his effeminacy.

1913 The highest temperature ever recorded on the surface of the Earth was 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) on July 10, 1913 in Death Valley, California. It is important to note that the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth is the air temperature. The ground temperature can be much higher, as it can absorb heat from the sun and the air. In Death Valley, the ground temperature has been recorded as high as 93.9°C (201°F).

1921 Harvey Ball was born on July 10, 1921. A commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, he was the man who created and popularized the two-dots-and-a-grin smiley logo. World Smile Day, which inaugurated in 1999 by Harvey Ball is held annually on the first Friday in October. The catchphrase of World Smile Day is “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.”

1940 The British officially recognize The Battle of Britain as starting on July 10, 1940. A World War II air battle between German and British air forces over Britain, it had been intended as a preliminary to the German invasion plan Seelöwe (Sea Lion). The name arose from Sir Winston Churchill’s “this was their finest hour” speech: "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin."

1946 On July 10, 1946, it was reported that hyperinflation in Hungary meant prices were doubling every 11 hours. Hyperinflation in Hungary eventually stabilized through monetary reform, including the introduction of a new currency, the forint, in August 1946.

1973 Sixteen-year-old John Paul Getty, the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, was kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10, 1973. After two ransom notes were ignored an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear was delivered to a daily newspaper with a threat of further mutilation of Paul, unless $3.2 million was paid. At this point Getty Sr. agreed to pay up and Getty III was found alive five months after his kidnapping  in a filling station shortly after the payment of the ransom.

1978 Snooker player Joe Davis died on July 10, 1978. He won every snooker world championship from 1926 until 1946 when he retired. In 1955 Joe Davis became the first man to compile an officially recognized maximum snooker break of 147. He achieved the feat in an exhibition match at Leicester Square Hall.

1991 In a nationally televised speech on the night Christmas Day, 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union. He declared the office extinct and handed over its functions to Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin became the first President of the Russian Federation on July 10, 1991. He won 57% of the vote. Yeltsin proved to be an unpopular leader as his tenure was marked by widespread corruption, inflation, and economic hardships for his country.

1992 English hangman Albert Pierrepoint died on July 10, 1992. The most prolific UK hangman of the 20th century, he executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956 and became a celebrity. Yet Pierrepoint concluded in his memoirs that hanging was "not a deterrent."
Names that Pierrepoint executed included William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") and more than 200 Nazi war criminals.

2014 The most times to unholster and holster a gun in one minute is 44 and was achieved by Will Roberts in Calico, California, on July 10, 2014. Roberts achieved his record using a Glock 19 9mm pistol. He wore the gun in a shoulder holster and performed the unholstering and holstering movements using both hands.