Friday 10th of December 1520

37-year-old Theologian and church reformer Martin Luther publicly sets fire to the Papal Bull 'Exsurge Domine' in Schloßkirche, Wittenberg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

Luther defended his act in 'Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned' and 'Assertions Concerning All Articles'. As a consequence he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on 3 January 1521.

Wednesday 10th of December 1541

Thomas Culpeper is beheaded and Francis Dereham is hung, cut down while still alive, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered for having sexual relations with 18-year-old Fifth wife of Henry VIII Catherine Howard aka The Rose without a Thorn in Tyburn Tree, London, Tyburn, Greater London, United Kingdom.

According to custom, Culpeper and Dereham's heads were placed on top of London Bridge.

Sunday 10th of December 1865

1st King of Belgium Leopold I dies of complications of bronchitis at the age of 75 in Château de Laeken, Brussel, Laeken, Brabant, Belgium.

Thursday 10th of December 1868

The first traffic control device is installed at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets in Parliament Square, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

The device had lights and it used arms which extended outwards. It was operated manually by a police officer.

Thursday 10th of December 1896

Chemist, engineer, innovator and armaments manufacturer Alfred Bernhard Nobel aka The Merchant of Death known for inventing dynamite dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63 in San Remo, Liguria, Italy.

Monday 10th of December 1900

Mass murderer John Filip Nordlund aka Mälarmördaren aka Mordlund aka Svarte Filip is executed by beheading by Albert Gustaf Dalman at the age of 25 in Västerås, Västmanlands Län, .

Nordlund's execution was swift, striking the head off in a single blow.

Saturday 10th of December 1904

49-year-old Bigamist and multiple murderer Johann Otto Hoch aka The Bluebeard Murderer marries Marie Walcker in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Walcker becomes ill and dies on 12 January 1905. Three days later Hoch marries Walcker's sister Mrs. Fischer as John Hock.

Thursday 10th of December 1908

Composer, organist and ornithologist Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen is born in Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Friday 10th of December 1915

Murderer Ramon Villalobo is executed by hanging at the age of 28 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Wednesday 10th of December 1919

Murderess Jean Lee is born as Marjorie Jean Maude Wright in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia.

Friday 10th of December 1920

Automobile manufacturing pioneer Horace Elgin Dodge dies of Spanish flu and pneumonia at the age of 52 in Palm Beach, Florida, United States.

Thursday 10th of December 1931

Murderer Henry Daniel Seymour is executed by hanging at the age of 39 in Oxford Prison, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Monday 10th of December 1945

32-year-old Frances Brown is battered, shot and stabbed to death by serial killer William Heirens aka Catch Me Before I Kill More in Pine Crest Residential Hotel, Pine Grove Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

On the bedroom wall Heirens wrote in lipstick: “For heaven’s sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself”.

Wednesday 10th of December 1958

Founder of the Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love Fountain of the World cult Krishna Venta and 9 members of the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Fountain of the World are blown up in their subterranean chambers at the age of 47 in Fountain of the World, 585 Box Canyon Road, Chatsworth, Canoga Park, California, United States.

The blast was a suicide bombing instigated by disgruntled former followers Peter Duma Kamenoff and Ralph Muller who had charged that Venta mishandled cult funds and had been intimate with their wives.

Sunday 10th of December 1967

Singer-songwriter Otis Ray Redding dies in a Beechcraft H19 plane crash due to poor weather conditions at the age of 26 in Lake Monona, Wisconsin, United States.

The other victims of the crash were four members of the Bar-Kays—guitarist Jimmy King, tenor saxophonist Phalon Jones, organist Ronnie Caldwell and drummer Carl Cunningham, their valet Matthew Kelly and pilot Richard Fraser.

Sunday 10th of December 1978

Cult film director Ed Edward Davis Wood aka The Worst Director of All Time dies of a heart attack at the age of 54 in Hollywood, California, United States.

Monday 10th of December 1979

17-year-old Dorothy Williams is beaten and stabbed by serial killer Gerald Stano aka Blind Fury in Tampa, Florida, United States.

Wednesday 10th of December 1980

32-year-old Serial killer Metod Trobec aka The Monster of Dolenja Vas is found guilty of the rape and murder of 5 young girls in Stari Log, Primorsko-Goranska, Yugoslavia.

Wednesday 10th of December 1986

Actress Susan Cabot is beaten to death with a weightlifting bar by her 22-year-old dwarf son Timothy Scott Roman at the age of 59 in Encino, California, United States.

Roman, who suffered from psychological problems, was subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter and received a three-year suspended sentence.

Thursday 10th of December 1992

Double murderer Kavin Wayne Lincecum is executed by lethal injection at the age of 29 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Saturday 10th of December 1994

50-year-old advertising executive Thomas Mosser is killed when opening Bomb #15 sent by 52-year-old Mathematician and serial bomber Theodore John 'Ted' Kaczynski aka The Unabomber in 15 Aspen Drive, North Caldwell, New Jersey, United States.

Kaczynski explained in a letter sent to the New York Times that Mosser was targeted because he handled PR for the Exxon Valdez incident. This was incorrect.

Saturday 10th of December 1994

32-year-old Agnes Nijkamp is raped and stabbed to death by serial killer Guy Georges aka Le Tueur de la Bastille in Cours de l'Etoile d'Or, Paris, XIe, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 10th of December 1999

A deformed beggar making his way on the sidewalk in Bangkok, Pahurat, Central Thailand, Thailand.

Tuesday 10th of December 2002

Murderer Desmond Keith Carter is executed by lethal injection at the age of 35 in Raleigh State Prison, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.

Carter declined a special meal. Instead he bought two cheeseburgers, a steak sub, and two Cokes from the prison canteen for which he paid $4.20 from his prison account.

Sunday 10th of December 2006

Dictatorial president Augusto Pinochet dies of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema at the age of 91 in Hospital Militar 1, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile.

By the time of his death about 300 criminal charges were still pending against Pinochet in Chile for numerous human rights violations during his 17-year rule and tax evasion and embezzlement during and after his rule.

Saturday 10th of December 2016

Noise music band Club Moral play their 147th concert in Le Marquis de Sade, 39 Rue de Paris, Rennes, Bretagne, France.

Monday 10th of December 2018

54-year-old Serial killer Mikhail Viktorovich Popkov aka The Angarsk Werewolf is convicted of 56 murders and sentenced to a second life sentence in Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.

In January 2015 Popkov was already sentenced to life in prison for 22 murders and two attempted murders. In July 2020 Popkov confessed to more killings, bringing the total number of admitted victims to 83.