What happened on 10 May?

20 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857 Sepoys of the Bengal Army revolt at Meerut on 10 May 1857; rebellion spreads across northern and central India. Suppression is followed by the transfer of Company government to the
2. 1940 Winston Churchill's first premiership Churchill leads the wartime coalition from the fall of France to victory in Europe, then loses the 1945 election.
3. 1508 Sistine Chapel ceiling Michelangelo paints the chapel's vault for Pope Julius II, including the Genesis scenes and the Creation of Adam; among the most celebrated works of Western art.
4. 1940 Fall of France Germany defeats France in six weeks; Britain stands alone in western Europe.
5. 1994 Presidency of Nelson Mandela One term to bind the country together: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a constitution for a non-racial South Africa.
6. 1774 Reign of Louis XVI of France The last king of France before the fall of the monarchy in the Revolution; executed by guillotine.
7. 1857 Meerut mutiny Sepoys mutiny at Meerut over greased cartridges, igniting the Indian Rebellion.
8. 1940 Churchill becomes Prime Minister Churchill replaces Chamberlain on the day Germany invades Western Europe; leads a coalition government until May 1945.
9. 1986 Rock Me Amadeus (Falco) UK No. 1 single by Falco, first listed at No. 1 on the chart dated 10 May 1986.
10. 1869 Transcontinental Railroad completed Promontory Summit, Utah — the golden spike linked the US coast to coast.
11. 1804 Pitt the Younger's second premiership Pitt builds the Third Coalition, lives to see Trafalgar and Austerlitz, and dies worn out at forty-six.
12. 1981 Mitterrand's election victory François Mitterrand becomes the first socialist president of the Fifth Republic.
13. 1994 Mandela inaugurated as President Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black president, completing the end of apartheid.
14. 1796 Battle of Lodi Key victory of Napoleon's Italian Campaign; opened the way to Milan.
15. 1871 The Treaty of Frankfurt takes Alsace-Lorraine The peace with France exacts five billion francs and — against Bismarck's own instincts — the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The annexation makes Franco-German enmity permanent:
16. 1933 The Nazi book burnings In torchlit squares across university Germany, students burn tens of thousands of 'un-German' books — Mann, Freud, Einstein, Remarque — with Goebbels presiding in Berlin. A century
17. 1775 The Second Continental Congress convenes Three weeks after Lexington, delegates of twelve of the thirteen colonies assemble in Philadelphia with a war already running and no government to run it. This improvised body beco
18. 1940 German invasion of the Netherlands Neutrality is no defence: paratroopers seize the bridges, Rotterdam's heart is bombed flat mid-negotiation, and the Netherlands surrenders in five days.
19. 1773 Tea Act British Parliament passes the Tea Act, retaining the duty on tea and triggering colonial protests including the Boston Tea Party.
20. 1987 Maradona wins Napoli's first Serie A title Bought from Barcelona for a world-record fee, Maradona lifts a poor southern club over the giants of the north to its first Italian championship; Naples celebrates for weeks.