April, 10th. Today in History. (100 years ago today, the Titanic set out on it's fateful voyage.)

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


428 – Nestorius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.

837 – Halley's Comet and Earth experienced their closest approach to one another when their separating distance equalled 0.0342 AU (3.2 million miles).

879 – Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks.

1407 – the lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded with the title Great Treasure Prince of Dharma.

1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.

1606 – The Charter of the Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.

1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain.

1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.

1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.

1816 – The United States Government approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.

1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.

1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Missolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.

1856 – The Theta Chi fraternity is founded at Norwich University.

1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonne bell for the Palace of Westminster had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonne bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.

1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.

1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two die from the British/Indian troops.

1874 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.

1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of The Catholic University of America.

1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the third and final chapter of The Book of The Law.

1912 – The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage. J.P. Morgan had to miss the maiden voyage of his new grand flag ship after contacting a 'sudden illness.'
1916 – The Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.

1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.

1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner's Sons.

1941 – World War II: The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić's Ustaše fascist insurgents in power.

1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from the Birkenau death camp.

1953 – Warner Brothers premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax.

1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.

1959 – Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, weds Michiko.

1963 – 129 people die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.

1968 – Shipwreck of the New Zealand inter-island ferry TEV Wahine outside Wellington harbour.

1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he leaves The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

1971 – Ping Pong Diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.

1972 – 20 days after he is kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is executed by communist guerrillas.

1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.

1972 – Seventy-four nations sign the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of biological weapons.

1973 – A British Vanguard turboprop crashes during a snowstorm at Basel, Switzerland killing 104.

1979 – Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.

1991 – Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.

1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.

1992 – The Maraghar Massacre, killing of ethnic Armenian civil population of the village Maraghar by Azerbaijani troops during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces he will suspend the constitution and assume all governance in the country, creating a constitutional
crisis.

2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board including President Lech Kaczyński.

Births

• 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
• 1512 – James V of Scotland, Scottish king (d. 1542)
• 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and writer (d. 1645)
• 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician (d. 1708)
• 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, lord-founder of the town of Rimouski, in New France (d. 1718)
• 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English classical scholar (d. 1766)
• 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer and author of musical method books (d. 1795)
• 1713 – John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (d. 1788)
• 1735 – Button Gwinnett, Signer of the US Declaration of Independence (d. 1777)
• 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German physician (d. 1843)
• 1756 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1831)
• 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (d. 1834)
• 1778 – William Hazlitt, English writer (d. 1830)
• 1783 – Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen consort of Holland (d. 1837)
• 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, American commodore (d. 1858)
• 1796 – James "Jim" Bowie, American pioneer and soldier (d. 1836)
• 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
• 1827 – Lew Wallace, American Civil War figure and novelist (d. 1905)
• 1829 – William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army (d. 1912)
• 1837 – Forceythe Willson, American poet (d. 1867)
• 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, American journalist and publisher (d. 1911)
• 1864 – Eugen d'Albert, German composer (d. 1932)
• 1865 – Jack Miner, Canadian conservationist (d. 1944)
• 1867 – George William Russell, Irish nationalist (d. 1935)
• 1868 – George Arliss, English actor (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish president (d. 1940)
• 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian expressionist illustrator and writer (d. 1959)
• 1880 – Frances Perkins, American politician and 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
• 1880 – Mohammed Nadir Shah, Afghan king (d. 1933)
• 1880 – Montague Summers, English writer (d. 1948)
• 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer (d. 1968)
• 1894 – Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian industrialist (d. 1983)
• 1897 – Ross Youngs, American baseball player (d. 1927)
• 1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, American activist, (d. 1987)
• 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and editor (d. 2004)
• 1911 – Martin Denny, American musician (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French politician, journalist and writer (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Slovenian politician (d. 1953)
• 1913 – Stefan Heym, German author (d. 2001)
• 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Lee Jung Seob, Korean oil painter (d. 1956)
• 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
• 1918 – Lee Bergere, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Chuck Connors, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat (d. 2008)
• 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and novelist (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American painter (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer (d. 1995)
• 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American professional wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Junior Samples, American southern comedian (d. 1983)
• 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
• 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish actor
• 1930 – Claude Bolling, French jazz composer and pianist
• 1930 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actor and comedian (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American labor activist
• 1930 – Spede Pasanen, Finnish comedian (d. 2001)
• 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, French actress and film director (d. 1990)
• 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor
• 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese lyricist and author
• 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
• 1935 – John A. Bennett, American convicted rapist (d. 1961)
• 1936 – John Madden, American football coach and broadcaster
• 1936 – Bobbie Smith, American singer
• 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player and broadcaster (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian author
• 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, Northern Irish TV and radio presenter
• 1941 – Paul Theroux, American author
• 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
• 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
• 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish athlete
• 1946 – David Angell, American television producer (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and executive
• 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German film director
• 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican musician
• 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French sports commentator
• 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player
• 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (P-Funk and The Temptations) (d. 1992)
• 1950 – Akiko Wada, Japanese singer and television performer
• 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and environmental activist
• 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician
• 1952 – Steven Seagal, Americian actor and martial artist
• 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestling manager
• 1954 – Anne Lamott, American writer
• 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
• 1955 – Lesley Garrett, British soprano
• 1957 – John M. Ford, American science fiction author and poet (d. 2006)
• 1957 – Steven Gustafson, American musician (10,000 Maniacs)
• 1958 – Bob Bell, British engineer
• 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born pianist
• 1958 – Kenneth Edmonds, American music producer
• 1959 – Uwe Behrens, German footballer
• 1959 – Davy Carton, Irish musician (Saw Doctors)
• 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian politician
• 1959 – Brian Setzer, American musician (Stray Cats)
• 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American pro football team owner
• 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American musician
• 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
• 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish TV & radio presenter
• 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie (d. 1991)
• 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player
• 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American musician
• 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss politician
• 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player
• 1964 – Felicia Collins, American guitarist and singer
• 1965 – Tim Alexander, American musician
• 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 – David Rovics, American folksinger
• 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor and comedian
• 1969 – Billy Jayne, American actor
• 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
• 1969 – Mike Mushok, American musician
• 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Leonard Dorin, Canadian boxer
• 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer
• 1970 – Dylan Keefe, bassist with alternative rock band Marcy Playground
• 1970 – Q-Tip, American musician
• 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Brad William Henke, American actor
• 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and film director
• 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish musician
• 1973 – Christopher Simmons, American designer
• 1974 – Eric Greitens, American former military officer
• 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
• 1974 – Henning Wehn, German comedian
• 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer
• 1975 – Matthew Phillips, New Zealand-born Italian rugby player
• 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian cross country skier
• 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist
• 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
• 1979 – Shemekia Copeland, American singer
• 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (d. 2003)
• 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese artist
• 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer
• 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
• 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, British actor
• 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race-car driver
• 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American musician
• 1981 – Gretchen Bleiler, American snowboarder
• 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actor
• 1981 – Liz McClarnon, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
• 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor
• 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
• 1982 – Damián Lanza, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress
• 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
• 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
• 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer/actor
• 1984 – Cara DeLizia, American actress
• 1984 – Jeremy Barrett (figure skater), American figure skater
• 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian athlete
• 1986 – Andrea Cesaro, Italian footballer
• 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
• 1986 – Ayesha Takia, Indian actress
• 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
• 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano
• 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian Actress
• 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
• 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
• 1990 – Giorgos Economides, Greek-Cypriot footballer
• 1990 – Lulinha, Brazilian footballer
• 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
• 1991 – A.J. Michalka, American actress and singer
• 2007 – Princess Ariane of the Netherlands

Deaths

• 879 – King Louis the Stammerer of the West Franks (b. 846)
• 948 – King Hugh of Italy
• 1533 – King Frederick I of Denmark (b. 1471)
• 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer
• 1585 – Pope Gregory XIII (b. 1502)
• 1599 – Gabrielle d'Estrée, mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
• 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (b. 1562)
• 1619 – Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin (b. c. 1550)
• 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer (b. 1578)
• 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
• 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Bohemian doctor and scientist (b. 1595)
• 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, Bishop of Strassburg (b. 1629)
• 1706 – Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1666)
• 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (d. 1661)
• 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian (b. 1687)
• 1786 – John Byron, British naval officer (b. 1723)
• 1806 – Horatio Gates, American Revolutionary War figure (b. 1727)
• 1813 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-born mathematician (b. 1736)
• 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher (b. 1757)
• 1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (b. 1828)
• 1904 – Queen Isabella II of Spain (b. 1830)
• 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet and critic (b. 1837)
• 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary figure (b. 1879)
• 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1829)
• 1931 – Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet and painter (b. 1883)
• 1938 – Joe "King" Oliver, American musician (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Charles Nordhoff, English-born writer (b. 1887)
• 1945 – H.N. Werkman, Dutch artist and printer (b. 1882)
• 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French film executive (b. 1862)
• 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
• 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and theologian (b. 1881)
• 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer and songwriter (b. 1928)
• 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
• 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born American director (b. 1886)
• 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, English musician (The Beatles) (b. 1940)
• 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver and owner (b. 1928)
• 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English writer (b. 1903)
• 1968 – Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (b. 1899)
• 1969 – Harley J. Earl, American automobile designer (b. 1893)
• 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
• 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian composer (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress (b. 1914)
• 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestine Liberation Organization figure (b. 1935)
• 1986 – Linda Creed, American songwriter (b. 1948)
• 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
• 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
• 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (b. 1953)
• 1993 – Chris Hani, South African activist (b. 1942)
• 1994 – Sam B. Hall, American politician (b. 1924)
• 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian statesman (b. 1896)
• 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author (b. 1945)
• 1998 – Jack Clemmons, American law enforcement officer (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Seraphim, Archbishop of Athens (b. 1913)
• 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German-born biochemist (b. 1910)
• 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
• 2000 – Kirsten Rolffes, Danish actress (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (b. 1923)
• 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
• 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (Bleed the Dream) (b. 1970)
• 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
• 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, Canadian pioneer of cell biology (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet (b. 1950)
• 2010 – Passengers in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash, including:
  
  • Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish statesman (b. 1919)
  • Maria Kaczyńska, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
  • Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland (b. 1949)
  • Janusz Zakrzeński, Polish actor (b. 1936)
  • Anna Walentynowicz, Polish free trade activist (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Arthur Mercante, Sr., American boxing referee (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Mikhail Rusyayev, Russian footballer (b. 1964)
• 2011 – Homer Smith, American football coach (b. 1931)