May 10^th in history

Encyclopædia Britannica presents people and events from this day in history:

Fred Astaire: Biography of the Day

Fred Astaire

"To be in a picture with Fred Astaire was every dancing girl's dream."

Ann Miller

Fred Astaire, born this day in 1899, is considered one of the greatest American popular-music dancers and is especially remembered for his partnership with Ginger Rogers in a series of highly successful musical comedy films.

 

Nelson Mandela inaugurated as president of South Africa: 10 May 1994 - This Day in History

Nelson Mandela, whose efforts to end apartheid led to his imprisonment (1962–90) and earned him a share (with F.W. de Klerk) of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, became president of South Africa this day in 1994.

More Events on this day:

1940: Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands.

1869: The tracks of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific were joined at Promontory, Utah, to form the first transcontinental railway in the United States.

1865: Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, was captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.

1857: The Indian Mutiny erupted in Meerut in reaction to the increased pace of Westernization in India and a military crackdown on Indian troops by their British officers.

1838: American actor John Wilkes Booth, who would assassinate President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, was born near Bel Air, Maryland.

1818: American patriot Paul Revere died in Boston.

1775: The Green Mountain Boys, under the joint command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, captured the British-controlled Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution.