Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Today in History - Britannica.com/on-this-day/

 

Nov 10


1871
The search for Dr. Livingstone
On this day in 1871, according to his journal, journalist Henry Morton Stanley uttered the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” and ended years of speculation concerning the whereabouts of David Livingstone, arguably Great Britain’s most famous explorer, who’d gone off the map while in search of the source of the Nile River. Where had Livingstone been all those years when he had been presumed dead?
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November 10, 1871: Henry Stanley set out to confirm Dr. Livingstone's death
Library of Congress Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-18647); Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
President of Bolivia Evo Morales Ayma seated at a table, speaking and gesturing with one hand, wearing a dark jacket with traditional embroidery.
Mark Garten/UN Photo
Evo Morales resigned under pressure
Bolivian labor leader Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia, resigned under pressure after monitors claimed that the election—for his fourth term in office—had irregularities, a claim later challenged. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about South America.]
Featured Biography
William Hogarth: The Tête à Tête
National Gallery, London/SuperStock

William Hogarth, the first great English artist to attract admiration abroad, who was best known for moral and satirical engravings and paintings such as A Rake’s Progress (begun 1732), was born this day in 1697.


More on November 10

Helmut Schmidt
German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), B 145 Bild-F048644-0025
2015
German politician and publisher Helmut Schmidt—who, as chancellor of West Germany (1974–82), was one of the most respected and influential of western Europe’s leaders—died at age 96. [How much do you know about German history?]
Norman Mailer
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (5a52339u)
2007
American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer—who was best known for using a form of journalism (called New Journalism) that combines the imaginative subjectivity of literature with the more objective qualities of journalism—died in New York. [Test your knowledge of famous writers.]
China
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2001
After 15 years of negotiations, China’s membership in the World Trade Organization was approved, and the following day Taiwan’s membership was approved. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about China.]
Macaulay Culkin as Kevin stands by a decorated Christmas tree holding a toy, while Joe Pesci's character peers through the window from outside in a scene from Home Alone.
© 1990 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
1990
The American comedy Home Alone, written by John Hughes and starring Macaulay Culkin, had its world premiere; a huge hit, it spawned a number of sequels and became a TV staple during the Christmas holidays. [Test your knowledge of pop culture.]
Leonid Brezhnev
World History Archive/age fotostock
1982
Soviet statesman and Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev died in Moscow after presiding as the leader of the Soviet Union for more than 18 years. [How much do you know about Russian history?]
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a large cargo ship, moves through the water with its name visible on the bow.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
1975
The American freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 aboard; its mysterious demise inspired a Gordon Lightfoot song that helped make it the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes. [Read about seven of the world’s deadliest shipwrecks.]
Big Bird in Sesame Street
Mark Lennihan/AP Images
1969
The American children’s TV series Sesame Street—which featured a cast of puppet characters that included Elmo, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster—debuted on the National Educational Television network (later PBS). [Take our quiz about fictional characters.]
Hope diamond
Lee Boltin
1958
The Hope diamond, one of the largest blue diamonds known, was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., becoming one of its most-popular attractions. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about precious metals and stones.]
Kemal Atatürk
Victor Console/ANL/REX/Shutterstock.com
1938
Turkish reformer Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president (1923–38) of the Republic of Turkey, died in Istanbul. [Test your knowledge of Turkish and Ottoman history.]
Welsh actor Richard Burton poses indoors with his hand resting on his chin, wearing a dark blazer and light pants, London, 1970.
© TPLP—Archive Photos/Getty Images
1925
Welsh actor Richard Burton—whose best-known performances were of highly intelligent and articulate men who were world-weary, cynical, or self-destructive—was born. [Test your knowledge of A-list actors.]
Józef Piłsudski
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3b35372)
1918
Józef Piłsudski, Polish revolutionary and first chief of state of the newly reconstituted Poland, arrived in Warsaw to declare Poland an independent state. [Take our quiz about European history.]
Wilmington coup and massacre
mccool/Alamy
1898
The multiracial Fusionist (Republican and Populist) city government of Wilmington, North Carolina, was violently overthrown, and as many as 60 Black Americans were killed in a premeditated murder spree that was the culmination of an organized months-long statewide campaign by white supremacists. [How much do you know about American history and politics?]
Vachel Lindsay
Culver Pictures
1879
American poet Vachel Lindsay, who, in an attempt to revive poetry as an oral art form of the common people, wrote and read to audiences compositions with powerful rhythms that had an immediate appeal, was born. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about poetry.]
United States Marine Corps
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1775
The United States Marine Corps was founded when the Continental Congress ordered that two battalions of marines be raised for service during the American Revolution. [How much do you know about military history?]
default image
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1444
Turkish forces defeated the Hungarians in the Battle of Varna, securing Turkey’s control over Constantinople (Istanbul) and assuring the Ottoman conquest in the Balkans. [Take our quiz about the Ottoman Empire.]
Conrad I
Courtesy of the Bayerisches National Museum, Munich; photograph, Foto Marburg
911
Conrad I was elected German king at Forchheim, after the death of Louis the Child, the last of the East Frankish Carolingians. [Take our quiz about kings and emperors.]

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Today in History - Britannica.com/on-this-day/

  Nov 10 1871 The search for Dr. Livingstone On this day in 1871, according to his journal, journalist Henry Morton Stanley uttered the fam...