On May 10
No pivotal events are recorded on exactly May 10 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.
This week in history (May 7 – May 13)
On 8 May 1980 the World Health Assembly officially declared that smallpox had been eradicated, the first and so far only human disease to be eliminated worldwide through deliberate effort.
On 11 May 330 CE Constantine formally dedicated the rebuilt Greek city of Byzantium as Constantinople, his 'New Rome', after years of construction on a strategic site commanding the Bosporus between Europe and Asia.
Dated to 11 May 868 by its own colophon, the Chinese Diamond Sutra is the earliest complete, dated printed book known to survive, produced by woodblock printing during the late Tang dynasty.
On 7 May 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, received its first performance at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna.
On 13 May 1888 Princess Isabel, acting as regent for her father Emperor Pedro II, signed the Lei Áurea, or Golden Law, which declared slavery abolished in Brazil with immediate effect and without compensation to slaveholders.
On 9 May 1960 the US Food and Drug Administration approved Enovid, manufactured by G.D. Searle, as the first oral contraceptive, and it reached the market in June 1960.