April 10th in History

Advertising poster for RMS Titanic and her sister ship RMS Olympic. The Titanic set sail April 10, 1912.

Today in History

  • Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth (837)
  • The first copyright law (The Statute of Anne) takes effect (1710)
  • Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins (1755)
  • The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded (1866)
  • RMS Titanic sets sail on her first (and final) voyage (1912)
  • The Great Gatsby is published (1925)
  • The first 3-D film from a major American studio (House of Wax) is released (1953)
  • The submarine USS Thresher sinks (1963)
  • Paul McCartney announces he is leaving The Beatles (1970)
  • US bombing of North Vietnam begins (1972)
  • A Northern Ireland peace deal (the Good Friday Agreement) is reached (1998)

Birthdays

  • Samuel Hahnemann, developer of homeopathy (1755)
  • Matthew C. Perry, American admiral (1794)
  • Lew Wallace, general, politician, and author of Ben Hur (1827)
  • William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army (1829)
  • Joseph Pulitzer, journalist and publisher, established the Pulitzer Prize (1847)
  • Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, first woman appointed to a Cabinet position (1880)
  • Clare Boothe Luce, politician and diplomat (1903)
  • Harry Morgan, actor (1915)
  • Robert Burns Woodward, chemist and Nobel laureate (1917)
  • Chuck Connors, actor (1921)
  • Sheb Wooley, singer (1921)
  • Junior Samples, Hee Haw regular (1926)
  • Max von Sydow, actor (1929)
  • Omar Sharif, actor (1932)
  • David Halberstam, journalist (1934)
  • John Madden, football coach and player, sportscaster, and video game namesake (1936)
  • Don Meredith, football player and sportscaster (1938)
  • Ken Griffey Sr., baseball player and manager (1950)
  • Steven Segal, actor and martial artist (1952)
  • John M. Ford, author (1957)
  • Brian Setzer, musician (1959)
  • Orlando Jones, actor (1968)
  • Mandy Moore, actress, singer-songwriter (1984)
  • Haley Joel Osment, actor (1988)

Deaths

  • Louis the Stammerer, monarch (879)
  • Pope Gregory XIII, calendar namesake (1585)
  • Joseph-Louis Lagrange, astronomer and mathematician (1813)
  • Algernon Swinburne, poet (1909)
  • Emiliano Zapata, general (1919)
  • Kahlil Gibran (جبران خليل جبران‎), poet (1931)
  • Joe “King” Oliver, coronet player (1938)
  • Charles Nordhoff, author (1947)
  • Auguste Lumière, first filmmaker (1948)
  • Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, priest and philosopher (1955)
  • Michael Curtiz, director and producer (1962)
  • Stuart Sutcliffe, original Beatle (1962)
  • Linda Darnell, actress (1965)
  • Evelyn Waugh, author (1966)
  • Marjorie Main, actress (1975)
  • Natalie Schafer, actress, “Lovey” on Gilligan’s Island (1991)
  • Sam Kinison, comedian (1992)
  • Larry Linville, actor, “Frank Burns” on M*A*S*H (2000)
  • Little Eva (Eva Boyd), pop singer (2003)
  • Dixie Carter, actress (2010)
  • Robert Edwards, physiologist and Nobel laureate (2013)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • ASPCA Day (United States)
  • Golfer’s Day (United States)
  • National Siblings Day (United States)
  • Salvation Army Founders’ Day (Salvation Army worldwide)
Informal and made-up holidays include National Cinnamon Crescent Day, National Farm Animals Day, Safety Pin Day, Stories Day,

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April 10 is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years). There are 265 days remaining until the end of the year.