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What Happened Today in History on September 10

Explore the historical events that shaped our world on September 10th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.

Holy Roman Emperor Otto III visits Rome and meets with Pope John XV, marking a significant moment of cooperation between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy.

John Smith is elected president of the governing council of Jamestown, making him the leader of the colony. His leadership focused on imposing discipline, particularly the "he that will not work shall not eat" policy, and improving the fort and food supply, which helped the colony survive its early, difficult years including establishing trade with the Powhatan Indians.

American inventor Elias Howe was granted a patent for his sewing machine. An invention which revolutionized garment manufacturing and changed everyday life in the factory, at the personal level, to country economies and in the home.

The first ever recorded drunk driving arrest takes place in London. The driver was a man named George Smith who was a taxi cab driver in London. He was drinking and driving and crashed into a building, he was arrested for drunk driving and pleaded guilty to the charge. Smith was sentenced to pay 25 shillings. The first DUI charge in the United States occurred in 1910 when New York became the first state to prohibit drunk driving. No specific individual name was recorded.

Guinea-Bissau Independence from Portugal is formally recognized. Their Independence Day is celebrated on September 24, the day in 1973, when they declared their independence, during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence from Portugal. Guinea-Bissau is a tropical country on West Africa’s Atlantic coast that’s known for national parks and wildlife.

Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant convicted of the torture and murder of his former girlfriend, becomes the last person to be executed by guillotine. The guillotine was France's legal method of execution for nearly 200 years. France officially abolished the death penalty in 1981.

Pablo Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece “Guernica” arrives in Spain, after more than 40 years of being in the custody of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Picasso had strongly requested  that Guernica remains at the Met until Spain re-established a democratic republic. It would not be until 1981, after both the artist's and Franco's deaths, that Spanish negotiators were finally able to bring the mural home.