On This Day: September 10th

American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk is assassinated while onstage at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Polaris Dawn, the first private crewed spaceflight to involve a spacewalk, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hurricane Irma makes landfall on Cudjoe Key, Florida as a Category 4, after causing catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean. Irma resulted in 134 deaths and $77.2 billion (2017 USD) in damage.

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

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

Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations.

Antônio da Costa Santos, mayor of Campinas, Brazil is assassinated.

During his appearance on the British TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, contestant Charles Ingram reaches the £1 million top prize, but it was later revealed that he had cheated to the top prize by listening to coughs from his wife and another contestant.

Operation Barras successfully frees six British soldiers held captive for over two weeks and contributes to the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War.

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