Once Upon A Time – December 10 – 1936 – Edward VIII Signs Instrument Of Abdication, Giving Up British Throne To Marry Wallis Simpson

1520 Martin Luther publicly burns papal edict demanding he recants

1684 Isaac Newton’s derivation of Kepler’s laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley

1799 Metric system first adopted in France

1901 First Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to Red Cross founder Jean Henri Dunant and peace activist Frederic Passy

1936 Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson

1964 Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo, Norway

More Historical Events

Dec 10 in Film & TV

1962 David Lean’s film “Lawrence of Arabia”, based on life of T. E. Lawrence and starring Peter O’Toole, premieres at Odeon Leicester Square (Academy Awards Best Picture 1963)

Dec 10 in Music

2016 Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature at a ceremony he does not attend in Stockholm

Dec 10 in Sport

1831 “Spirit of the Times” begins publishing in New York City, the premier sports journal of the 19th century

MORE FACTS

1884 “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is first published in the UK and Canada (US Feb 1885, due to printing error)

1932 The “Great Emu War” ends: Emu’s surprising resilience to bullets led to Emu victory over Australian military in Campion district, Western Australia

Famous Weddings

1843 Author and religious leader Mary Baker Eddy (22) weds building contractor George Washington Glover (32) in Tilton, New Hampshire

1947 American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (30) weds American jazz bass player Ray Brown (21); divorce in 1953

1961 Dr Ruth marries Fred Westheimer