ON THIS DAY

MAY 10

1291 Scottish nobles recognise the authority of Edward I of England pending the selection of a king. Ironically the new king would become a hated enemy and gain the moniker, “Hammer of the Scots”.

1497 Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America is named, leaves Cádiz on his first voyage to the New World.

1614 Zacharias Wagenaer, commander of the Cape and who succeeded Jan van Riebeeck, is born in Dresden, Germany.

1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

1752 Benjamin Franklin tests the lightning conductor with his kite-flying experiment

1801 Barbary pirates declare war on the US.

1849 A riot breaks out in Manhattan over a dispute between an American actor and his British counterpart over a Shakespearan role; 25 people die.

1904 The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It becomes the Audi car company.

1916 With remarkable seamanship, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia island in a lifeboat after an 800-nautical mile journey from Elephant Island.

1924 J Edgar Hoover becomes first director of the FBI, and remains so until his death in 1972.

1940 Britain invades Iceland.

1941 Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland but fails to negotiate a peace deal.

1954 Bill Haley & His Comets release Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll record to reach #1 on the Billboard charts.

1973 World-famous martial artist Bruce Lee collapses in Hong Kong and is diagnosed with cerebral edema. He dies on July 20 and his death is ruled “death by misadventure”.

1975 Sony introduces the Betamax video cassette recorder.

1994 Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as president of a democratic South Africa.

2005 A thrown hand grenade lands 20m from US President George W Bush in Tbilisi, Georgia. It fails to detonate.