Human Rights Day
When : Always December 10
Human Rights Day, created by the United Nations, promotes awareness of the importance of Human Rights issues around the world. On this day in 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Each year, the United Nations, establishes a new theme for the year. 2013 Theme: 20 Years Working for Your Rights
"As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, let us intensify our efforts to fulfill our collective responsibility to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Human rights is something we easily take for granted in the United States. Elsewhere, freedom and basic human rights are not a given.
Participate in this day by learning more about human rights issues around the globe. Offer your time and money in support of a human rights issue that is important to you.
Origin of Human Rights Day:
The United Nations General Assembly created the first Human Rights Day on December 10, 1948. Since then, it day has been promoted annually by the UN, and by Human Rights groups around the world.
United Nations web site
This Day in History December 10
Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate. (1520)
Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII. (1541)
Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley. (1684)
France adopts the metre as its official unit of length. (1799)
Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state. (1817)
American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy. (1861)
Forces led by Nguyen Trung Truc, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance. (1861)
American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia. (1864)
The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps. (1868)
Wyoming, a territory of the U.S., allowed women to vote and hold office (1869).
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time. (1884)
Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. (1898)
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded. (1901)
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize. (1906)
Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. (1909)
The first transcontinental flight across the United States is completed. Calbraith Perry Rodgers began the flight on 17 September 1911, taking off from Sheepshead Bay NY. (1911)
The phrase "Grand Ole Opry" is used for the first time on-air. (1927)
The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, is awarded to halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. (1935)
World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya. (1941)
World War II: Battle of the Philippines – Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland. (1941)
The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1948)
The Mighty Mouse Playhouse premieres on television. (1955)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize. (1964)
The Grateful Dead's first concert performance under this new name. (1965)
Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo. (1968)
The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques. (1976)
Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (1978)
The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages. (1993)
Rwandan Genocide: Military advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down. (1994)