1794
May 10, In France Elizabeth (30), the sister of King Louis XVI, was beheaded.


1872
May 10, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for U.S. president. Thomas Nast depicted her as "Mrs. Satan." Woodhull adhered to a diet prescribed by Sylvester Graham, known for his ginger-colored crackers. Sylvester preached against demon rum and died at age 57 after administering himself a medicinal treatment with considerable liquor. Frederick Douglas, African-American statesman, was nominated as vice president on the Equal Rights Party ticket.


1908
May 10, The first Mother’s Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia. In 1997 Anna Jarvis first proposed the idea that all mothers wear a carnation on the 2nd Sunday of May.


1921
May 10, Nancy Walker, Bounty ads, actress (Rhoda, McMillan & Wife), was born in Philadelphia.
1977 May 10, Actress Joan Crawford (69) died in New York of liver cancer.


1978
May 10, Britain's Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon announced they were divorcing after 18 years of marriage.

1997
May 10, In Britain Jennifer Murray and co-pilot Quentin Smith began a round-the-world helicopter trip in an effort to become the first woman to pilot the globe in a helicopter. She completed her flight on Aug 15.


1998
May 10, In Clearfield, Pa., Kimberly Jo Dotts (15) was hanged to death by teenagers who planned to run away to Florida. Seven young people 14-24 were arrested for murder and the trial of Jessica Holtmeyer (16) and Aaron Straw (19) began in 1999. Holtmeyer was convicted Jan 28.


2002
May 10, In Alabama Linda Lyon Block (54), a political extremist, was put to death in an electric chair. She had been convicted of murdering a police officer in 1993.


2007
May 10, A Palestinian woman in the seventh month of her pregnancy lost her unborn baby when she was caught in crossfire between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.


2010
May 10, President Barack Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan (50) to the Supreme Court, pushing the former law school dean toward the pinnacle of her profession and positioning the United States to have three women justices for the first time in its history.