Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Thursday, 10 September 2026

2008

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.

2007

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.

2003

Anna Lindh, the foreign minister of Sweden, is fatally stabbed while shopping, and dies the following day.

2002

Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations.

2001

Charles Ingram cheats his way into winning one million pounds on a British version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

1990

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro|Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire

1977

Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.

1976

A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176.

1974

Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.

1972

The United States suffers its first loss of an international basketball game in a disputed match against the Soviet Union at Munich, Germany.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan