THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 10

December 10 is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 21 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

NOBEL PRIZE DAY 

1317 – The "Nyköping Banquet" - King Birger of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers Valdemar, Duke of Finland and Eric, Duke of Södermanland, who were subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle. 

1520 – Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.

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 – France adopts the meter as its official unit of length.

1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea –  Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.

1898 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.

1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.  They are a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, and/or scientific advances. 

The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901. Medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold, and later from 18 carat green gold plated with a 24 carat gold coating. Between 1901 and 2015, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 573 times to 900 people and organisations. With some receiving the Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 23 organisations, and 870 individuals—of whom 48 were women.

1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.

1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog affair in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.

1909 – Sewden's Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.

1949 – Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army lead by Communist Mao Zedong begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

  

1978 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1989 – Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.

1994 – Rwandan Genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.

1996 – The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.

2009 – Barack Obama accepts the Nobel Peace Prize (foe doing nothing at all).

2013 – Mary Barra of GM becomes the first female CEO of a major U.S. automotive company.

2016 – Terrorist bombing outside a stadium in Istanbul, 38 killed and 166 injured.

2017 – Governor Jerry Brown tours Southern California wildfires and declares them "the new normal."

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1830 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)

1911 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974)

1913 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)

From Wikipedia and Google, ex as noted.