{"id":16794,"date":"2022-08-10T07:12:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T05:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=213195"},"modified":"2022-08-10T07:26:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T05:26:08","slug":"10-august-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/10-august-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"10 August: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 10 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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10 August 991<\/h3>\n

Ealdorman Brihtnoth was defeated by a force of Viking raiders at the battle of Maldon in Essex. The Vikings, who were probably led by Olaf Tryggvason, had been camped on Northey Island which was joined to the mainland by a narrow tidal causeway. Seeking to bring the Vikings to battle before they sailed off to raid elsewhere, Brihtnoth allowed them to cross the causeway unopposed. Both sides suffered heavy casualties but the Vikings prevailed and Brihtnoth was slain.<\/p>\n

10 August 1512<\/h3>\n

An English fleet under Sir Edward Howard defeated a Franco-Breton fleet under Rene de Clermont in a fierce naval action off Brest. During the fighting the Breton flagship Marie de la Cordeli\u00e8re became separated from the main French fleet and was surrounded by English ships. The Cordeli\u00e8re caught alight and soon the flames spread to the Regent, one of the largest ships in the Tudor navy, which was alongside and attempting to board her. Both ships were destroyed in the ensuing inferno and most of their crews lost.<\/p>\n

10 August 1675<\/h3>\n

Responding to Charles II<\/a>\u2019s enthusiasm for \u201cthe perfecting of the art of navigation\u201d, the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory was laid at Greenwich in London.<\/p>\n

10 August 1792: The French monarchy topples<\/h3>\n

Louis XVI flees for his life as republican revolutionaries rampage through Paris<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

In the summer of 1792, Paris seethed with tension. Since the revolution had begun three years earlier, the momentum towards violence had become unstoppable, and as one defeat followed another in the Austrian Netherlands, the mood in the capital darkened. For many people, there was an obvious scapegoat: the king, Louis XVI, with his foreign friends and Austrian-born wife, Marie Antoinette<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is in the name of the king,\u201d said one revolutionary leader, \u201cthat liberty is being attacked.\u201d For the first time, many politicians began to talk openly about the abolition of the monarchy.<\/p>\n

On the night of 9\/10 August, the storm broke. In the early hours of the morning, a revolutionary mob marched on the royal palace, the Tuileries. Reviewing his troops, \u201cwith his sword at his side, but with the powder falling out of his hair\u201d, Louis was shocked to hear some of them shouting: \u201cLong live the nation!\u201d and \u201cDown with the [royal] veto!\u201d The queen begged her husband to stand and fight. But Louis could not abide the thought of bloodshed. Instead of standing firm, he and his family fled to the sanctuary of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the revolutionaries rampaged through the abandoned palace, massacring Louis\u2019s Swiss Guards, as well as his male servants and courtiers. In all, perhaps 1,000 people died. The monarchy was finished; a new mood of republican idealism seized the capital. Abroad, the reaction was utter horror.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe French,\u201d said one British newspaper, \u201cby their own madness and folly, have thereby prepared for themselves that ruin and destruction, which the combined power of all the despots in the universe could not otherwise have effected.\u201d | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 August 1809<\/h3>\n

The Ecuadorian city of Quito declared its independence from Spain. The rebellion was crushed but Quito won its freedom after the battle of Pinchincha in 1822.<\/p>\n

10 August 1810<\/h3>\n

The birth in Turin of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. Cavour was a leading supporter of Italian unification and served as the Kingdom of Italy\u2019s first prime minister.<\/p>\n

Browse more On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n