Did you know
Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money
Notable Deaths on May 10
62 people
1299 – 2024
May 10 has seen 62 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 1299 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1977 — Joan Crawford
American actress (year of birth disputed)
Did you know
Crawford was signed to a motion-picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925
Did you know
Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her roles, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s
Did you know
By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo
Did you know
By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".
heir to the Pagan Kingdom
Theingapati was heir-apparent of the Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1289 to 1297. The crown prince is known for his mission to Beijing in which he sought and received the Mongol Empire's recognition of his…
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1299
widow of John of Gaunt
Katherine, Duchess of Lancaster was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of King Edward III. From her earlier marriage, she is known as Katherine Swynford.
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1403
Italian mathematician and astronomer (born 1397)
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer. Born in Florence, he was a notable local Renaissance figure. Christopher Columbus carried his map on his first voyage to the New…
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1482
1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1433)
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll was a medieval Scottish nobleman, peer, and politician. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, Master of Campbell and Elizabeth Somerville, daughter of John Somerville, 3rd Lord…
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1493
German author (born 1457)
Sebastian Brant was a German humanist and satirist. He is best known for his satire Das Narrenschiff.
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1521
German physician and botanist (born 1501)
Leonhart Fuchs, sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs and cited in Latin as Leonhartus Fuchsius, was a German physician and botanist. His chief notability is as the author of a large book about plants and their uses as…
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1566
Spanish mystic and saint (born 1500)
John of Ávila was a Spanish priest, preacher, scholastic author, and religious mystic, who has been declared a saint and Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church. He is called the "Apostle of Andalusia", for his…
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1569
Swedish field marshal (born 1596)
Johan Banér was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War.
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1641
American merchant and politician (born 1641)
John Hathorne was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials.
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1717
1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (born 1670)
Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans, KG was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwyn.
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1726
1774
English physician, physicist, and botanist (born 1715)
Sir William Watson, FRS was a British physician and scientist who was born and died in London. His early work was in botany, and he helped to introduce the work of Carl Linnaeus into England. He became a Fellow of the…
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1787
French princess and youngest sibling of Louis XVI (born 1764)
Élisabeth of France, also known as Madame Élisabeth, was a French princess. She was the youngest child of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony, and she was a sister of King Louis XVI.…
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1794
English navigator and explorer (born 1757)
Captain George Vancouver was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what…
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1798
comte de Rochambeau, French general (born 1725)
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a French Royal Army officer who played a critical role in the American victory at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. He was…
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1807
American engraver and soldier (born 1735)
Paul Revere was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, engaging in a midnight ride in 1775 to…
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1818
English physician and linguist (born 1773)
Thomas Young was a British polymath who made notable contributions to the fields of vision, light, solid mechanics, energy, physiology, language, musical harmony, and Egyptology. He was instrumental in the decipherment…
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1829
1849
American general (born 1824)
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern theater of the…
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1863
American lawyer, civil servant, politician, and businessperson (born 1782)
William Armstrong was an American lawyer, civil servant, politician, and businessperson. He represented Hampshire County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1818 to 1820, and Virginia's 16th congressional district…
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1865
American lawyer and politician (born 1808)
Henry Bennett was an American lawyer and politician who served five terms as a United States representative from New York from 1849 to 1859.
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1868
Russian journalist, author, and playwright (born 1826)
Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin, born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during his lifetime by the pen name Nikolai Shchedrin, was a major Russian writer and satirist of the 19th century. He spent most of…
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1889
Swiss botanist and mycologist (born 1817)
Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli was a Swiss botanist. He studied cell division and pollination but became known as the man who discouraged Gregor Mendel from further work on genetics. He rejected natural selection as a…
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1891
New York politician (born 1827)
Peter Ward was a New York businessman and politician. From 1851–1859, Ward was the superintendent of the Newburgh Branch of the Erie Railroad. He also worked for the New York, Ontario and Western Railway and the New…
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1891
Filipino soldier and politician, President of the Philippines (born 1863)
Andrés Bonifacio was a Filipino revolutionary leader. He is often called "The Father of the Philippine Revolution", considered a national hero of the Philippines.
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1897
Italian chemist and academic (born 1826)
Stanislao Cannizzaro was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860.
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1910
German SS officer (born 1889)
Richard Glücks was a high-ranking German SS functionary during the Nazi era. From November 1939 until the end of World War II, he commanded the Concentration Camps Inspectorate, later integrated into the SS Main…
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1945
Czech soldier and politician (born 1898)
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia, before World War II. After Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia, he became the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Reichsgau…
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1945
American librarian and bibliographer (born 1883)
Belle da Costa Greene was an American librarian who managed and developed the personal library of J. P. Morgan. After Morgan died in 1913, Greene continued as librarian for his son, Jack Morgan, and in 1924 was named…
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1950
Russian author, poet, and playwright (born 1899)
Yury Karlovich Olesha was a Russian and Soviet novelist. He is considered one of the greatest Russian novelists of the 20th century, one of the few to have succeeded in writing works of lasting artistic value despite…
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1960
Russian painter, illustrator, and set designer (born 1881)
Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov was a Russian avant-garde painter who worked with radical exhibitors and pioneered the first approach to abstract Russian art. He was founding member of two important artistic groups Knave…
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1964
Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (born 1894)
Hubertus Johannes "Huib" van Mook was a Dutch administrator in the East Indies. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he served as the lieutenant governor-general of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948. Van…
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1965
American actor and singer (born 1929)
Scott Hastings Beckett was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the Our Gang shorts and later costarred on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
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1968
1974
German playwright and painter (born 1916)
Peter Ulrich Weiss was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays Marat/Sade and The Investigation and his novel The…
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1982
Chinese author and academic (born 1902)
Shen Congwen, formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, was a Chinese writer who is considered one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun. Regional culture and identity plays a much bigger role in his…
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1988
Slovak writer (born 1913)
Dominik Tatarka was a Slovak writer famous for his 1956 satirical text The Demon of Consent condemning Stalinism.
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1989
American novelist and essayist (born 1916)
Walker Percy, OblSB was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, The Moviegoer, won the National Book…
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1990
American serial killer (born 1942)
John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys between 1972 and 1978 in Norwood Park Township, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He…
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1994
American poet, author, and illustrator (born 1930)
Sheldon Allan Silverstein was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended college before being drafted into the United States Army. During…
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1999
Canadian lawyer and judge (born 1923)
Jules Deschênes, was a Canadian Quebec Superior Court judge.
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2000
American illustrator (born 1915)
Richard W. Sprang was an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on the superhero Batman during the period fans and historians call Golden Age of Comic Books. Sprang was responsible for the…
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2000
Indian politician, Governor of Himachal Pradesh (born 1934)
Sudhakarrao Rajusing Naik was an Indian politician from Indian National Congress party who served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 25 June 1991 until 22 February 1993 following the communal riots. He also served as…
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2001
Indian poet and songwriter (born 1919)
Kaifi Azmi was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participated in many memorable Mushaira…
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2002
French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1920)
Yves Robert was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer.
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2002
Serbian-American chemist and chess player (born 1937)
Milan R. Vukcevich was a Serbian-American chemist, a grandmaster of chess problem composition and writer.
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2003
2006
Turkish soprano (born 1928)
Leyla Gencer also known as La Diva Turca was a Turkish operatic soprano.
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2008
American illustrator and painter (born 1928)
Frank Frazetta was an American artist known for themes of fantasy and science fiction, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is often referred to…
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2010
German photographer and journalist (born 1933)
Horst Faas was a German photo-journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He is best known for his images of the Vietnam War.
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2012
American race car driver and designer (born 1923)
Carroll Hall Shelby was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur.
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2012
Norwegian captain and author (born 1918)
Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. Known by the nickname "Kjakan" and as "Agent No. 24", he was the most…
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2012
American sculptor, illustrator, and academic (born 1946)
Christopher Lee Burden was an American artist working in performance art, sculpture, and installation art. Burden became known in the 1970s for his performance art works, including Shoot (1971), where he arranged for a…
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2015
Australian botanist and ecologist (born 1914)
David William Goodall was an English-born Australian botanist and ecologist. He was influential in the early development of statistical methods in plant communities. He worked as researcher and professor in England,…
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2018
Spanish politician and chemist (born 1951)
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba was a Spanish statesman, politician and chemist who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from 2010 to 2011, and previously as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993, as Minister of the…
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2019
American soul singer (born 1953)
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teenager, Wright rose…
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2020
British soprano (born 1928)
Pauline Cecilia Tinsley was a British soprano, notable for her performances for the Welsh National Opera and the English National Opera (1963–1974).
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2021
American professional basketball player (born 1948)
Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. was an American professional basketball player. He played center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted into the…
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2022
Ukrainian politician (born 1934)
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk was a Ukrainian politician who served as the first president of Ukraine from 5 December 1991 to 19 July 1994. Kravchuk's presidency was marked by Ukraine achieving independence from the Soviet…
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2022
2024
American hedge fund manager, mathematician, and philanthropist (born 1938)
James Harris Simons was an American hedge fund manager, investor, mathematician, and philanthropist. At the time of his death, Simons's net worth was estimated to be $31.4 billion, making him the 55th-richest person in…
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on May 10?
Joan Crawford — American actress (1904?–1977)
FeaturedJoan Crawford
Death year1977
Known forShe began her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway
Deaths on this date62 (1299 – 2024)
Explore May 10
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on May 10 in History
2024
Start of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms. Wikipedia →
2022
Queen Elizabeth II misses the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. It was the first time that a new session of Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge acting as Counsellors of State. Wikipedia →
2017
See all events on May 10
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last footholds of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Al-Tabqah, bringing the Battle of Tabqa to an end. Wikipedia →
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