Summary of the Day ✨ 10 July (10/07)
On this day, the iconic Volkswagen Beetle ended production after 59 years with the final “Special Edition” rolling off the line in Mexico, while simultaneously a dramatic cave rescue freed 12 Thai school boys and their coach after 18 days underground, though one Thai Navy SEAL diver sacrificed his life during the operation. The same day also marked historic moments in sports, geopolitics, and religion as Portugal claimed its first European football championship, Iraq declared Mosul liberated from ISIS, and the Episcopal Church USA officially permitted same-sex marriage.
Historical Events 📜
- 2019: The final Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico; the last of 5,961 “Special Edition” cars will be exhibited in a museum.
- 2018: Tham Luang cave rescue: A group of Thai school children and their football coach are all rescued from a cave after being stuck there for 18 days; one Thai Navy SEAL diver dies during the rescue mission.
- 2017: Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by the government of Iraq.
- 2016: Portugal defeats France in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final to win their first European title.
- 2012: The Episcopal Church USA allows same-sex marriage.
- 2011: Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in the Volga River near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, causing 122 deaths.
- 2011: Amid widespread backlash to revelations of phone hacking, the British weekly tabloid newspaper News of the World publishes its final issue and shuts down after nearly 168 years in print.
- 2008: Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations tribunal.
- 2007: Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
- 2006: A Pakistan International Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Multan International Airport, killing all 45 people on board.
- 2002: The Massacre of the Innocents, a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, is sold at a Sotheby’s auction for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
- 2000: EADS, the world’s second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
- 2000: Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father Hafez al-Assad as President of Syria.
- 1999: In women’s association football, the United States defeats China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Watched by 90,185 spectators, the final sets a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event.
- 1998: Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claim they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
Famous Births 👶
- 2024: Moo Deng, Thai celebrity pygmy hippopotamus
- 2007: Mason Thames, American actor
- 2002: Reece Walsh, Australian rugby league player
- 2001: Isabela Merced, American actress
- 1999: April Ivy, Portuguese composer and singer
- 1999: San, South Korean singer and dancer
- 1998: Angus Cloud, American actor (died 2023)
- 1994: Chae Soo-bin, South Korean actress
- 1992: Han Yu, Chinese pool player
- 1991: Daishōmaru Shōgo, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1990: Adam Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
- 1990: Trent Richardson, American football player
- 1990: Chiyonokuni Toshiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1988: Antonio Brown, American football player
- 1988: Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: David Gergen, American political consultant (born 1942)
- 2024: Joe Engle, American Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut (born 1932)
- 2024: Alex Janvier, Native American Artist (born 1935)
- 2024: Dave Loggins, American musician (born 1947)
- 2022: Maurice Boucher, Canadian outlaw biker (born 1953)
- 2020: Lara van Ruijven, Dutch short track speed skater (born 1992)
- 2020: Jack Charlton, English footballer and manager (born 1935)
- 2019: Denise Nickerson, American former child actress known for playing Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (born 1957)
- 2018: Henry Morgenthau III, American author and television producer (born 1917)
- 2016: Katharina Focke, German politician (born 1922)
- 2015: Roger Rees, Welsh-American actor and director (born 1944)
- 2015: Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor (born 1932)
- 2015: Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor (born 1926)
- 2014: Robert C. Broomfield, American lawyer and judge (born 1933)
- 2014: Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (born 1918)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Armed Forces Day (Mauritania)
- Christian feast day:
Amalberga of Maubeuge - Christian feast day:
Canute IV of Denmark - Christian feast day:
Rufina and Secunda - Christian feast day:
Seven Brothers - Christian feast day:
Victoria, Anatolia, and Audax - Christian feast day:
July 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Independence Day (Bahamas), celebrates the independence of the Bahamas from the United Kingdom in 1973.
- Nikola Tesla Day
- Statehood Day (Wyoming)