http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Aug 10, 1945: Japan accepts Potsdam terms, agrees to unconditional surrender
On this day in 1945, just a day after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan submits its acquiescence to the Potsdam Conference terms of unconditional surrender, as President Harry S. Truman orders a halt to atomic bombing.
Emperor Hirohito, having remained aloof from the daily decisions of prosecuting the war, rubber-stamping the decisions of his War Council, including the decision to bomb Pearl Harbor, finally felt compelled to do more. At the behest of two Cabinet members, the emperor summoned and presided over a special meeting of the Council and implored them to consider accepting the terms of the Potsdam Conference, which meant unconditional surrender. "It seems obvious that the nation is no longer able to wage war, and its ability to defend its own shores is doubtful." The Council had been split over the surrender terms; half the members wanted assurances that the emperor would maintain his hereditary and traditional role in a postwar Japan before surrender could be considered. But in light of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, Nagasaki on August 9, and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, as well as the emperor's own request that the Council "bear the unbearable," it was agreed: Japan would surrender.
Tokyo released a message to its ambassadors in Switzerland and Sweden, which was then passed on to the Allies. The message formally accepted the Potsdam Declaration but included the proviso that "said Declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as sovereign ruler." When the message reached Washington, President Truman, unwilling to inflict any more suffering on the Japanese people, especially on "all those kids," ordered a halt to atomic bombing, He also wanted to know whether the stipulation regarding "His Majesty" was a deal breaker. Negotiations between Washington and Tokyo ensued. Meanwhile, savage fighting continued between Japan and the Soviet Union in Manchuria.
Aug 10, 1776: London learns of American independence
On this day in 1776, news reaches London that the Americans had drafted the Declaration of Independence.
Until the Declaration of Independence formally transformed the 13 British colonies into states, both Americans and the British saw the conflict centered in Massachusetts as a local uprising within the British empire. To King George III, it was a colonial rebellion, and to the Americans, it was a struggle for their rights as British citizens. However, when Parliament continued to oppose any reform and remained unwilling to negotiate with the American rebels and instead hired Hessians, German mercenaries, to help the British army crush the rebellion, the Continental Congress began to pass measures abolishing British authority in the colonies.
In January 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, an influential political pamphlet that convincingly argued for American independence from the British monarchy. It sold more than 500,000 copies in just a few months. By the spring of 1776, support for independence had swept through the colonies, the Continental Congress called for states to form their own governments and a five-man committee was assigned to draft a document declaring independence from the British king.
The Declaration of Independence was largely the work of Virginian Thomas Jefferson. In justifying American independence, Jefferson drew generously from the political philosophy of John Locke, an advocate of natural rights, and from the work of other British theorists. The declaration features the immortal lines "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It then goes on to present a long list of grievances that provided the American rationale for rebellion.
Aug 10, 1846: Smithsonian Institution created
After a decade of debate about how best to spend a bequest left to America from an obscure English scientist, President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act into law.
In 1829, James Smithson died in Italy, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's curious bequest to a country that he had never visited aroused significant attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
Smithson had been a fellow of the venerable Royal Society of London from the age of 22, publishing numerous scientific papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry. In 1802, he overturned popular scientific opinion by proving that zinc carbonates were true carbonate minerals, and one type of zinc carbonate was later named smithsonite in his honor.
Six years after his death, his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, indeed died without children, and on July 1, 1836, the U.S. Congress authorized acceptance of Smithson's gift. President Andrew Jackson sent diplomat Richard Rush to England to negotiate for transfer of the funds, and two years later Rush set sail for home with 11 boxes containing a total of 104,960 gold sovereigns, 8 shillings, and 7 pence, as well as Smithson's mineral collection, library, scientific notes, and personal effects. After the gold was melted down, it amounted to a fortune worth well over $500,000. After considering a series of recommendations, including the creation of a national university, a public library, or an astronomical observatory, Congress agreed that the bequest would support the creation of a museum, a library, and a program of research, publication, and collection in the sciences, arts, and history. On August 10, 1846, the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution was signed into law by President James K. Polk.
Today, the Smithsonian is composed of 19 museums and galleries including the recently announced National Museum of African American History and Culture, nine research facilities throughout the United States and the world, and the national zoo. Besides the original Smithsonian Institution Building, popularly known as the "Castle," visitors to Washington, D.C., tour the National Museum of Natural History, which houses the natural science collections, the National Zoological Park, and the National Portrait Gallery. The National Museum of American History houses the original Star-Spangled Banner and other artifacts of U.S. history. The National Air and Space Museum has the distinction of being the most visited museum in the world, exhibiting such marvels of aviation and space history as the Wright brothers' plane and Freedom 7, the space capsule that took the first American into space. John Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution's great benefactor, is interred in a tomb in the Smithsonian Building.
The "Second Temple" of Jews was set aflame. This is the traditional date of Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur'an. Cardinal Richelieu began the siege of La Rochelle. London received the message that the American colonies had declared independence. Mozart completed "Eine small Nachtmusik". During the French Revolution, mobs attacked the palace of Louis XVI. Ecuador began fighting for independence against Spain. Missouri officially became a state. The Smithsonian Institution was established. This date also marks the anniversary of the Big Hole River massacre, when Col. John Gibbon killed the Nez-Perce. The victorious powers of the Great War recognized Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was struck by polio at his summer residence in Campobello, New Brunswick. In 1943 on this day, Patton called an injured soldier "cowardly", and was later reprimanded for it by Eisenhower. On the same day, Hitler watched Allied bombers get lynched. The United States reclaimed Guam from Japan. One year later Japan agreed, at least in principle, to unconditional surrender, following the two atomic bombs that were dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. David Berkowitz was arrested on this day in 1977, accused of being the infamous killer, "Son of Sam". There was a massacre of over one hundred Muslims in Sri Lanka. American Presidential candidate form the Republican Party, Bob Dole, picked former NFL star quarterback Jack Kemp as his running mate in 1996, in an ill-fated campaign.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire.
Destruction of Nineveh.
70 - "2nd Temple" of Jews is set aflame (approx)
610 - In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr,
when Muhammad began to receive the Qur'an.
654 - Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I
843 - Treaty of Verdun: Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the
German & Charles the Bare divide France
955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, King of the Germans
defeats the Hungarian, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of Western Europe.
991 - Battle of Maldon: English, led by Bryhtnoth, confront
a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon in Essex. The English are defeated
and the story is immortalised in a well-known poem.
1304 - -11] Battle at Zierik Sea: Dutch & French fleet
beat Flemish fleet
1316 - Second Battle of Athenry
1461 - Alfonso ed Espina, bishop of Osma urges for an
Inquistion in Spain
1497 - John Cabot tells King Henry VII of his trip to
"Asia"
1500 - Portuguese sea captain Diego Diaz is first European
to sight Madagascar
1511 - Portugese troops occupy parts of Malacca
1512 - Battle at Brest: English fleet beats France
1519 - Magellan's 5 ship set sail to circumnavigate Earth
1557 - Battle at St Quentin: Lamoraal of Egmont &
Philibert beat France
1566 - Iconoclasm begins
1585 - English Queen Elizabeth I signs Treaty of Nonsuch:
Aid for Neth
1622 - County Maine appended on John Mason/Fernandino Gorges
1627 - Cardinal Richelieu begins siege of La Rochelle
1628 - Wasa sinks at Stockholm, 50 killed
1653 - Sea battle at Heijde, English fleet beats Dutch
1664 - Austria/Turkey signs Peace of Vásvár
1675 - King Charles II lays foundation stone of Royal
Observatory, Greenwich
1675 - Portuguese-Jewish synagogue opens in Amsterdam
1678 - Netherlands & France signs peace treaty in
Nijmegen
1680 - In New Mexico, Popé leads rebellion of Pueblo Indians
against Spaniads
1743 - Earliest recorded prize fighting rules formulated
1759 - Carlos III becomes king of Spain
1774 - 1st Surinam newspaper (1st Wednesday Suriname) begins
publishing
1776 - American Revolutionary War: word of the United States
Declaration of Independence reaches London.
1787 - Mozart completes his "Eine small
Nachtmusik"
1787 - Turkey declares war on Russia
1790 - Robert Gray's Columbia, completes 1st American around
world voyage
1792 - Mobs in Paris attack palace of Louis XVI
1809 - Ecuador declares independence from Spain (National
Day)
1821 - Missouri admitted as 24th US state
1822 - Antioch Syria, hit by Earthquake; about 20,000 die
1827 - Race riots in Cincinnati (1,000 blacks leave for
Canada)
1831 - Former slave Nat Turner leads uprising against
slavery
1831 - Hurricane hits Barbados; about 1,500 die
1833 - Chicago incorporates as a village of about 200
1835 - Mob of whites & oxen pulled black school to a
swamp out of Canaan NH
1846 - Congress charters "nation's attic,"
Smithsonian Institution
1856 - Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island,
Louisiana
1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek MO (Springfield, Oak
Hills)-Gen Lyon killed
1862 - Battle of Nueces River TX
1866 - Transatlantic cable laid-Pres Buchanan spoke to Queen
Victoria
1869 - O B Brown patents moving picture projector
1876 - 1st phone call between Brantford & Paris, Canada
1877 - Big Hole River: Col John Gibbon murders Nez-Perce
indians
1877 - Phillies & Expos play a doubleheader that ends at
3:23 AM
1885 - Leo Daft opens America's 1st coml operated electric
streetcar (Balt)
1887 - Excursion train crashes killing 101. (Chatsworth,
Illinois)
1888 - NY Giant pitcher Tim Keefe sets a 19 game win streak
record
1889 - Dan Rylands patents screw cap
1893 - Chinese deported from SF under Exclusion Act
1895 - 1st Queen's Hall Promenade Concerto (Wagners
"Rienzi")
1897 - Automobile Club of Great Britain established (now:
Royal Auto Club)
1900 - 1st Davis Cup: USA beats British Isles in Boston
(3-0)
1901 - Chicago White Sox Frank Isbell strands record 11
teammate base runners
1904 - Angelo G Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) becomes a priest
1904 - Dutch newspaper Volk fires gay journalist Jacob de
Cock
1904 - Japanese fleet defeat Russians off Port Arthur
1904 - Yankees Jack Chesbro ends string of 30 consecutive
complete games
1906 - Pope Pius X bans Associations cults
1907 - Prince Scipone Borchesi wins Beijing to Paris, 7,500
mile auto rally
1909 - Algemeene Netherland Toonkunstenars Ver (ANTV) begins
1911 - Parliament Act reduces power of House of Lords
1913 - 2nd Balkan War ends, Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria
loses
1914 - At Luik, German 12"/16.5" guns reach
Belgian boundary
1914 - German battle cruiser Goeben reaches
Dardanellen/Turkey joins Germany
1914 - German troops reconquer Mulhouse in Elzas
1914 - Royal Nationally Steuncomite forms
1916 - Turks annex Persian city Hamadan from Russia
1919 - Ukrainian National Army massacres 25 Jews in Podolia
Ukraine
1920 - Allies recognize Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania
1920 - Treaty of Sèvres (Allies & Turkey)
1920 - Turkish government renounces its claim to Israel,
recognizes British mandate
1921 - FDR stricken with polio at summer home on Canadian
Is of Campobello
1925 - Hurricane strikes Borculo, 4 die
1926 - Italian-Spanish peace treaty signed
1929 - Grover Alexander beats Phils 7-1 for his 373rd &
last NL win
1932 - A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks
into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County,
Missouri.
1934 - Babe Ruth announces this is his final season as full
time player
1936 - 114°F (46°C) at Plain Dealing, Louisiana (state
record)
1936 - 120°F (49°C) at Ozark, Arkansas (state record)
1938 - 119°F (48°C), Pendleton, Oregon (state record)
1939 - 2nd Dutch De Geer government forms (1st with Social
Democrats)
1940 - Prince Bernhard Fund forms
1941 - FDR & Churchill's 2nd meeting at Placentia
Newfoundland
1942 - Gen B Montgomery becomes commandant British 8th
leader in N Africa
1943 - Dutch submarine attacks Island Hertenbeest in NW Bali
1943 - Gen Patton calls injured soldier "cowardly"
1943 - Hitler watches lynching of allied pilots
1944 - Braves Red Barrett throws only 58 pitches to shut out
Cin Reds 2-0
1944 - Race riots in Athens Alabama
1944 - US recaptures Guam from Japanese
1944 - US/French offensive at Alencon
1945 - Japan announces willingness to surrender to Allies
provided status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged
1948 - ABC enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, NY)
1948 - Allen Funt's "Candid Camera" TV debut on
ABC
1948 - Bradman scores 133* Aust v Lancashire, 216 mins, 17
fours
1948 - WABC TV channel 7 in New York, NY (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1949 - Ezzard Charles TKOs Gus Lesnevich in 8 for
heavyweight boxing title
1949 - Natl Military Establishment renamed Dept of Defense
1952 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA All American Women Golf
Tournament
1954 - Neth Indonesian Union breaks up
1954 - Sir Gordon Richards retires as a jockey with record
4,870 wins
1954
- At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway
is held.
1956 - 23rd NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Cleveland 26,
All-Stars 0 (75,000)
1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1958 - Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Macktown Golf Open
1960 - Discoverer 13 launched into orbit; returned 1st
object from space
1960 - Nicolaas Jouwe forms PANA in New-Guinea
1961 - England applies for membership in European Common
Market
1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1964 - WJSP TV channel 28 in Columbus, GA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1965 - Joe Engle in X-15 reaches 82 km
1966 - 1st lunar orbiter launched by US
1966 - Daylight meteor seen from Utah to Canada. Only known
case of a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere & leaving it again
1968 - Race riot in Miami, Chicago & Little Rock
1968 - Shirley Englehorn wins LPGA Concord Golf Open
1969 - Don Sutton breaks his 13-game losing streak to Cubs
with a 4-2 win
1969 - Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Stroh's-WBLY Golf Open
1970 - Jim Morrison is tried in Miami on "lewd &
lascivious behavior"
1971 - 16 baseball researchers form Society for American
Baseball Research
1971 - Twins' Harmon Killebrew is 10th to amass 500 HRs,
& adds his 501st
1972 - 1 million kg heavy meteorite grazes atmosphere above
Canada
1972 - Paul & Linda McCartney are arrested in Sweden on
drug possession
1973 - 1st BART train travels thru transbay tube to
Montgomery St Station
1974 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Colgate-European American Golf
Open
1975 - 57th PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 276 at
Firestone Akron
1975 - David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview
Nixon
1977 - US & Panamana sign Panama Canal Zone accord
1977 - USSR performs (underground) nuclear test
1977 - Postal employee David Berkowitz arrested in Yonkers
NY, accused of being "Son of Sam" 44 caliber killer
1978 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1979 - Ecuador adopts its constitution
1979 - Wings release "Getting Closer" &
"Baby's Request"
1980 - 62nd PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 274 at
Oak Hill NY
1980 - 8th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic):
Pat Bradley
1980 - Allen, most powerful hurricane in Caribbean hits
Brownsville, Tx
1981 - Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into
black business
1981 - Pete Rose, 3,631 career hit, breaks Stan Musial's NL
hit record
1981 - Richard Nixon Museum in San Clemente closes
1984 - Mary Decker trips on heel of Zola Budd during 3,000m
Olympic run
1985 - Oakland A's Dave Kingman is 21st to hit 400 HRs (off
Matt Young at Seattle)
1985
- Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (every Beatle song) for $47 million
1985 - Uno Lindstron of Sweden, juggles a soccer ball 13.11
miles
1986 - "Me & My Girl" opens at Marquis Theater
NYC for 1420 performances
1986 - Betsy King wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic
1986 - Billy Martin Day, his uniform number 1 retired
1986 - Marquis Theater opens at 1535 Broadway NYC
1986 - Pitcher Bob Forsch grand slams to lead Cards to a 5-4
win over Pirates
1987 - Flight Readiness Firing of Discovery's main engines
is successfully
1987 - Kevin Gross is 2nd pitcher in 8 days to be ejected
for scuffing ball
1988 - Matt Biondi swims world record 100m free style (48.42
sec)
1988 - Rodrigo Borja installed as president of Ecuador
1988 - UN estimates Asia's population hits 3 billion
1989 - A's bat out of order against White Sox in 3rd inning
1989 - Australia 0-301 at end of day one, 5th Test Cricket
at Trent Bridge
1990 - US's Magellan spacecraft lands on Venus
1990 - The Massacre of more than 127 Muslims in North East
Sri Lanka by paramilitaries.
1991 - "Little Night Music" closes at New York
State NYC after 7 perfs
1991 - NFL sportscaster Paul Maquire suffers a heart attack
at 53
1992 - Satellite TOPEX/Poseidon launched
1992 - Soyuz TM-15 lands
1993 - Charlotte Anne Lopez, 16, of Vermont, crowned 11th
Miss Teen USA
1993 - An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hits
the South Island of New Zealand.
1994 - Last British troops leave Hong Kong (been there since
Sept 1841)
1995 - Dodgers leading 2-1 in 9th forfeit game to Cards,
fans become unruly
1996 - Bob Dole picks Jack Kemp as his Republican VP running
mate
1996 - Dare & Go ends Cigars record tying victory streak
at 16
1996 - Parlisha Williams (Louisiana) crowned Ms Black USA
Metroplex
1996 - Yanks lose ending 3rd best home series victory streak
at 24
1997 - 36th Walker Cup: US, 18-6
1997 - Anaheim Angels Tony Phillips arrested for purchasing
cocaine
1997 - Atlanta Braves sign Greg Maddux to record 5 year,
$575 Million deal
1997 - Deb Richard wins LPGA Friendly's Classic
1997 - Northville Long Island Senior Golf Classic
1997 - Vijay Singh of Fiji wins Buick Open at the Warwick
Hills Golf
1998 - The Royal Proclamation of HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee
Billah as the Crown Prince of Brunei.
2003 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK -
38.5°C (101.3°F) in Kent . It is the first time the UK has recorded a
temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
2006 - Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to
destroy aircraft travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All
toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes.1792 - King Louis XVI was taken into custody by mobs during the French Revolution. He was executed the following January after being put on trial for treason. 1809 - Ecuador began its fight for independence from Spain. 1821 - Missouri became the 24th state to join the Union. 1846 - The Smithsonian Institution was chartered by the U.S. Congress. The "Nation's Attic" was made possible by $500,000 given by scientist Joseph Smithson. 1859 - In Boston, MA, the first milk inspectors were appointed. 1869 - The motion picture projector was patented by O.B. Brown. 1881 - Thomas Edison's exhibit opened the Paris Electrical Exhibition. 1885 - The first electric streetcar, to be used commercially, was operated in Baltimore, MD, by Leo Daft. 1914 - Austria-Hungary invaded Russia. 1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio. 1927 - Mount Rushmore was formally dedicated. The individual faces of the presidents were dedicated later. 1944 - U.S. forces defeated the remaining Japanese resistance on Guam. 1945 - The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged. 1947 - William Odom completed an around-the-world flight. He set the solo record by completing the flight in 73 hours and 5 minutes. 1948 - On ABC, "Candid Camera" made its TV debut. The original title was "Candid Microphone." 1949 - In the U.S., the National Military Establishment had its name changed to the Department of Defense. 1954 - Construction began on the St. Lawrence Seaway. 1965 - In Austin, TX, a fire burned part of the 20th floor of the 27-story University of Texas main building. A collection that contained items once owned by escape artist Harry Houdini and circus magnate P. T. Barnum were damaged by smoke and water. 1973 - Arnold Palmer did not make the cut for the final two rounds of the PGA Golf Championship. It was the first time in his career. 1981 - Pete Rose hit a single and broke the National League all-time hit record with his 3,630 hit. 1988 - U.S. President Reagan signed a measure that provided $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the U.S. government during World War II. 1993 - A massive deficit-reduction bill was signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton. 1994 - U.S. President Clinton claimed presidential immunity when he asked a federal judge to dismiss, at least for the time being, a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Corbin Jones. 1995 - Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, announced that she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. 1999 - Near an India-Pakistan border area an Indian fighter jet shot down a Pakistani naval aircraft. Sixteen people were killed. 2003 - Ekaterina Dmitriev and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were married. Malenchenko was about 240 miles above the earth in the international space station. It was the first-ever marriage from space.
1821 Missouri became the 24th state in the United States. 1846 The Smithsonian Institution was established in Washington, D.C., from funds left by British scientist James Smithson. 1921 Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his summer home on Campobello island. 1944 U.S. forces seized Guam from Japan. 1948 Candid Camera with Allen Funt debuted on television. 1988 President Reagan signed a bill that awarded $20,000 to each survivor of the Japanese-American internment. 1993 Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female U.S. Supreme Court justice.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug10.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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