April 10

Events879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks.1500 - Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and handed over to the French.1606 - The Charter of the Virginia Company of London was established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.1710 - The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.1741 - War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.1790 - United States Patent system established1815 - Mount Tambora eruption covers several islands with ash in Indonesia.1816 - The U.S. government approved the creation of a Second Bank of the United States.1821 - Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Turks from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.1826 - The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Messolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.1856 - Theta Chi Fraternity Founded at Norwich University1857 - The Sepoy Mutiny popularly known as the "Revolt of 1857" broke out in Meerut, India as part of the Indian independence movement. 1864 - Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is elected emperor of 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.1865 - The last photograph of Abraham Lincoln alive was taken.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 Theodore. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two die from the British/ Indian troops.1869 - José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party.1896 - Spiridon Louis wins the marathon of the first Olympic Games.1906 - The Four Million, O. Henry's second short story collection, is published.1912 - The RMS Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage.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.1924 - The first train robbery is reported in Greece outside the city of Larissa.1925 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York, New York by Charles Scribner's Sons.1933 - New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps is created.1938 - Édouard Daladier becomes Prime Minister of France.1941 - World War II: The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić's Ustase fascist insurgents in power.1944 - Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.1944 - Henry Ford II is named executive vice president of Ford Motor Company.1953 - The first 3D film is released in New York.1957 - The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months. 1959 - Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, weds Michiko.1963 - The submarine USS Thresher is lost at sea, with all hands (129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians).1964 - The Polo Grounds are demolished.1968 - Shipwreck of the Wahine outside Wellington harbour.1970 - Paul McCartney announces that he's leaving The Beatles.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 was 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.1973 - A British Vanguard turboprop crashes during a snowstorm at Basel, Switzerland killing 104.1978 - Volkswagen becomes only the second non-American automobile manufacturer to build cars in the United States (after Rolls-Royce), opening a plant in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.1979 - On "Terrible Tuesday", a tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people. (see Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak).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 Southern Hemisphere near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.1998 - The Belfast Agreement is signed.2006 - Hundreds of thousands protest H.R. 4437 (aka the "Sensenbrenner Bill") in cities across the United States.
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