http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Apr 10, 1970: Paul McCartney announces the breakup of the Beatles
The legendary rock band the Beatles spent the better part of three years breaking up in the late 1960s, and even longer than that hashing out who did what and why. And by the spring of 1970, there was little more than a tangled set of business relationships keeping the group together. Each of the Beatles was pursuing his musical interests outside of the band, and there were no plans in place to record together as a group. But as far as the public knew, this was just a temporary state of affairs. That all changed on April 10, 1970, when an ambiguous Paul McCartney "self-interview" was seized upon by the international media as an official announcement of a Beatles breakup.
The occasion for the statements Paul released to the press that day was the upcoming release of his debut solo album, McCartney. In a Q&A format in which he was both the interviewer and the interviewee, Paul first asked and answered a number of straightforward questions involving the recording equipment he used on the album, which instruments he played and who designed the artwork for the cover. Then he got to the tough ones:
Q: "Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?"
PAUL: "Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's 'the start of a solo career...and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both."
Q: "Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?"
PAUL: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know."
Q: "Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?"
PAUL: "No."
Nothing in Paul's answers constituted a definitive statement about the Beatles' future, but his remarks were nevertheless reported in the press under headlines like "McCartney Breaks Off With Beatles" and "The Beatles sing their swan song." And whatever his intent at the time, Paul's statements drove a further wedge between himself and his bandmates. In the May 14, 1970, issue of Rolling Stone, John Lennon lashed out at Paul in a way he'd never done publicly: "He can't have his own way, so he's causing chaos," John said. "I put out four albums last year, and I didn't say a f***ing word about quitting."
By year's end, Paul would file suit to dissolve the Beatles' business partnership, a formal process that would eventually make official the unofficial breakup he announced on this day in 1970.
Apr 10, 1866: ASPCA is founded
On April 10, 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh, 54.
In 1863, Bergh had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. It was there that he was horrified to witness work horses beaten by their peasant drivers. En route back to America, a June 1865 visit to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in London awakened his determination to secure a charter not only to incorporate the ASPCA but to exercise the power to arrest and prosecute violators of the law.
Back in New York, Bergh pleaded on behalf of "these mute servants of mankind" at a February 8, 1866, meeting at Clinton Hall. He argued that protecting animals was an issue that crossed party lines and class boundaries. "This is a matter purely of conscience; it has no perplexing side issues," he said. "It is a moral question in all its aspects." The speech prompted a number of dignitaries to sign his "Declaration of the Rights of Animals."
Bergh's impassioned accounts of the horrors inflicted on animals convinced the New York State legislature to pass the charter incorporating the ASPCA on April 10, 1866. Nine days later, the first effective anti-cruelty law in the United States was passed, allowing the ASPCA to investigate complaints of animal cruelty and to make arrests.
Bergh was a hands-on reformer, becoming a familiar sight on the streets and in the courtrooms of New York. He regularly inspected slaughter houses, worked with police to close down dog- and rat-fighting pits and lectured in schools and to adult societies. In 1867, the ASPCA established and operated the nation's first ambulance for horses.
As the pioneer and innovator of the humane movement, the ASPCA quickly became the model for more than 25 other humane organizations in the United States and Canada. And by the time Bergh died in 1888, 37 of the 38 states in the Union had passed anti-cruelty laws.
Bergh’s dramatic street rescues of mistreated horses and livestock served as a model for those trying to protect abused children. After Mary Ellen McCormack, 9, was found tied to a bed and brutally beaten by her foster parents in 1874, activists founded the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Bergh served as one of the group’s first vice presidents.
Apr 10, 1941: Croatia declares independence
On this day in 1941, the German and Italian invaders of Yugoslavia set up the Independent State of Croatia (also including Bosnia and Herzegovina) and place nationalist leader Ante Pavelic's Ustase, pro-fascist insurgents, in control of what is no more than a puppet Axis regime.
The Ustase began a relentless persecution of Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and antifascist Croats. As many as 350,000 to 450,000 victims were massacred, and the Jasenovac concentration camp would become infamous as a slaughterhouse.
Croatia's Serbs gave sporadic resistance, but it was the communist partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito (a Croat himself), who provided antifascist leadership. By 1944, most of Croatia--apart from the main cities--was liberated from Axis forces, and Croats joined partisan ranks in large numbers. As the war neared its end, however, many Croats, especially those who had been involved with the Ustase regime or who had opposed the communists, sought refugee status with the Allies. But British commanders handed them over to the partisans, who slaughtered tens of thousands, including civilians, on forced marches and in death camps.
Apr 10, 1933: FDR creates Civilian Conservation Corps
On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an innovative federally funded organization that put thousands of Americans to work during the Great Depression on projects with environmental benefits.
In 1932, FDR took America's political helm during the country's worst economic crisis, declaring a "government worthy of its name must make a fitting response" to the suffering of the unemployed. He implemented the CCC a little over one month into his presidency as part of his administration's "New Deal" plan for social and economic progress. The CCC reflected FDR's deep commitment to environmental conservation. He waxed poetic when lobbying for the its passage, declaring "the forests are the lungs of our land [which] purify our air and give fresh strength to our people."
The CCC, also known as "Roosevelt's Tree Army," was open to unemployed, unmarried U.S. male citizens between the ages of 18 and 26. All recruits had to be healthy and were expected to perform hard physical labor. Blacks were placed in de-facto segregated camps, although administrators denied the practice of discrimination. Enlistment in the program was for a minimum of 6 months; many re-enlisted after their first term. Participants were paid $30 a month and often given supplemental basic and vocational education while they served. Under the guidance of the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, CCC employees fought forest fires, planted trees, cleared and maintained access roads, re-seeded grazing lands and implemented soil-erosion controls. They built wildlife refuges, fish-rearing facilities, water storage basins and animal shelters. To encourage citizens to get out and enjoy America's natural resources, FDR authorized the CCC to build bridges and campground facilities. From 1933 to 1942, the CCC employed over 3 million men.
Of Roosevelt's many New Deal policies, the CCC is considered by many to be one of the most enduring and successful. It provided the model for future state and federal conservation programs. In 1942, Congress discontinued appropriations for the CCC, diverting the desperately needed funds to the effort to win World War II.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
837 - Comet 1P/837 F1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0334 AUs
of Earth
847 - St Leo IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
879 - Louis III becomes King of West Francia.
1407 - the lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty
capital at Nanjing. He is awarded with the title Great Treasure Prince of
Dharma.
1500 - France captures duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan
1516 - 1st ghetto, Jews are compelled to live in specific
area of Venice
1552 - Henri II of France occupies Metz
1589 - Spanish troops conquer Geertruidenberg
1656 - Dutch fleet occupiers Colombo Ceylon
1694 - Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoye attacks Casale
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 - Robert Gray is 1st American to circumnavigate the
Earth
1790 - US Patent system forms
1815 - Austria declares war on realm of Naples
1816 - 2nd Bank of US chartered
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.
1825 - 1st hotel in Hawaii opens
1825 - Nicaraguan constituent assembly meets at Leon
Duke of Milan Ludovico SforzaDuke of Milan Ludovico Sforza
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.
1835 - Charles Darwin returns to Santiago, Chile
1841 - NY "Tribune" begins publishing under editor
Horace Greeley
1845 - More than 1,000 buildings damaged by fire in
Pittsburgh Pa
1849 - Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt (NYC); sold rights
for $400
1856 - The Theta Chi Fraternity is founded at Norwich
University.
1858 - The Big Ben, a 13.76 tonne bell is recast in the
Tower of Westminster
1863 - Rebel Gen Earl Van Dorn attacks at Franklin, Tenn
1864 - Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes emperor of
Mexico
1865 - At Appomattox, Gen Lee issues Gen Order #9, his last
1866 - American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(ASPCA) forms
1868 - 1st performance of John Brahms' "Ein german
Requiem"
1868 - British defeat King of Abyssinia at Magdala
1869 - Congress increases number of Supreme Court judges
from 7 to 9
1869 - José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party.
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1871 -
William Hammond Hall's maps & surveys of Golden Gate Park accepted
1872 - 1st National black convention meets in New Orleans
1872 - 1st Arbor Day celebrated in Nebraska, later changed
to Apr 22
1877 - 1st human cannonball act performed in London
1877 - Federal troops withdrawn from Columbia SC
1878 - California St Cable Car RR Co starts service
1882 - Matson founds his shipping company (San Francisco
& Hawaii)
1884 - US Senate accepts Belgian administration of Congo
1887 - President Abraham Lincoln's re-buried with his wife
in Springfield Il
1887 - Soccer team Be Quick forms in Hairs Groningen
1896 - Spiridon Louis wins 1st Olympic marathon (2:58:50)
1912 - RMS Titanic sets sail for its 1st & last voyage
1913 - President Woodrow Wilson throws out 1st ball,
Senators beat Yankees 2-1
1913 - Walter Johnson begins string of 56 consecutive
scoreless innings
1916 - 1st professional golf tournament held
US President Woodrow WilsonUS President Woodrow Wilson 1916
- The Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) is created in New York
City.
1917 - Munition factory explosion at Eddystone PA, kills 133
workers
1919 - Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed
and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
1923 - Hitler demands "hatred & more hatred"
in Berlin
1924 - Tubular steel golf club shafts approved for
championship play
1925 - Czarina re-christened Stalingrad (now Volgograd)
1925 - Scribners publishes "The Great Gatsby" by F
Scott Fitzgerald
1930 - George Headley scores 223 v England at Kingston
1930 - Synthetic rubber 1st produced
1932 - Paul von Hindenburg elected 1st German president
(Hitler is 2nd)
1934 - Stanley Cup: Chicago Blackhawks beat Detroit Red
Wings, 3 games to 1
1935 - Vaughan Williams' 4th Symphony premieres in London
1936 - 200" mirror blank arrives in Pasadena
1938 - 2nd government of Blum replaced by Daladier
government in France
1938 - Austria becomes a state of Germany
Author F. Scott FitzgeraldAuthor F. Scott Fitzgerald 1938 -
NY makes syphilis test mandatory in order to get a marriage license
1939 - Colijn's Dutch government opens camp Westerbork for
German Jews
1939 - Grens mobilization due to Italian invasion in Albania
1940 - Vidkun Quisling forms Norwegian "national
government"
1941 - German troops conquer Libyan county Cyrenaica
1942 - Cigarettes & candy rationed in Holland
1943 - 12 Jewish patients of Herren Loo-Lozenoord escape
nazis
1943 - General Montgomery occupies Sfax Tunisia
1944 - "Patrolling the Ether" is shown on 3 TV
stations simultaneously
1944 - Soviet forces liberate Odessa from Nazis
1945 - Allies liberate 1st Nazi concentration camp,
Buchenwald (Czech)
1945 - Canadian troops conquer Deventer
1945 - General Blaskowitz becomes nazi leader of "Fort
Holland"
1945 - German troops attack Ijsselbrug
1945 - NFL's Boston Yanks & Brooklyn Tigers merge
1945 - US troops land on Tsugen Shima Okinawa
1945 - William Schuman & Antony Tudors ballet premieres
in NYC
1946 - 1st election for Japanese Diet
Baseball Player Jackie RobinsonBaseball Player Jackie
Robinson 1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes 1st black in major league baseball
(Dodgers)
1947 - King Frederik IX of Denmark crowned
1948 - Jewish Hagana repels an Arab attack on Mishmar HaEmek
1949 - 13th Golf Masters Championship: Sam Snead wins,
shooting a 282
1953 - "House of Wax," 1st 3-D movie, released
(NYC)
1953 - 7th NBA Championship: Minneapolis Lakers beat NY
Knicks, 4 games to 1
1954 - KRGV TV channel 5 in Weslaco, TX (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1955 - 19th Golf Masters Championship: Cary Middlecoff wins,
shooting a 279
1955 - 9th NBA Championship: Syrac Nats beat Ft Wayne
Pistons, 4 games to 3
1955 - Dr Jonas Salk successfully tests Polio vaccine
1955 - Ruth Ellis shoots jilting lover David Blakely
1956 - Philips broadcasts 1st Dutch color TV programs
1956 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat Detroit Red
Wings, 4 games to 1
1957 - John Osborne's "Entertainer," premieres in
London
1957 - Jordanian government of Naboelsi resigns
1957 - Suez canal reopens for all traffic
1957 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1958 - Northern strip of Spanish Sahara ceded to Morocco
1960 - 24th Golf Masters Championship: Arnold Palmer wins,
shooting a 282
1960 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf
Open
1960 - Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill
1961 - 25th Golf Masters Championship: Gary Player wins,
shooting a 280
1961 - Adolf Eichmann tried as a war criminal in Israel
1961 - Dutch foreign minister Luns talks to JFK about New
Guinea
1961 - New Wash Senators loses 1st regular-season game 4-3
to White Sox
1962 - 1st baseball game at LA's Dodger Stadium, they lose
6-3 to Reds
1962 - 1st major league game in Houston, Colt .45s beat
Chicago Cubs, 11-2
1962 - NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits his 375th HR
1963 - Thresher, US atomic-powered submarine, sinks 220
miles east of Boston
1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 - Demolition begins on Polo Grounds to clear way for
housing project
1964 - Iranian motor launch catches fire & sinks killing
113 (Persian Gulf)
Actress Elizabeth TaylorActress Elizabeth Taylor 1967 - 39th
Academy Awards - "Man For All Seasons," best picture, Elizabeth
Taylor & Paul Scofield best actress/actor
1968 - Ferry Wahine sinks in Wellington harbour, New Zealand
on route from Lyttelton (51 killed)
1968 - "George M!" opens at Palace Theater NYC for
435 performances
1968 - 40th Academy Awards - "Heat of the Night,"
Rod Steiger & K Hepburn win
1968 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 - Paul McCartney officially announces the split of The
Beatles
1971 - 1st baseball game at Phila's Veterans Stadium, Phils
beat Expos 4-1
1971 - US table tennis team arrives in China PR
1972 - 7.0 earthquake kills 1/5 of population of Iranian
province of Fars
1972 - US, USSR & 70 other nations agree to ban
biological weapons
1972 - 20 days after he was kidnapped in Buenos Aires,
Oberdan Sallustro is executed by communist guerrillas.
1973 - BEA flight to Basel Switz, crashes on landing,
killing 104 of 143
1973 - KC opens its new park, Royals Stadium, with 12-1 rout
of Rangers
1973 - Pakistan suspends constitution
1974 - American Boccaccio Association forms
Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartneyMusician
& member of the Beatles Paul McCartney 1974 - Magicians Penn & Teller
1st meet
1974 - Yitzhak Rabin replaces resigning Israeli PM Golda
Meir
1975 - Rangers score 8 goals against Islanders in playoffs
1976 - Brewers' Don Money's grand slammer disallowed-Yanks
win 9-7
1976 - Cleveland Cavaliers win their 1st NBA Central
Division title
1977 - 41st Golf Masters Championship: Tom Watson wins,
shooting a 276
1977 - Beverly Klass wins LPGA Women's International Golf
Satellite
1977 - Cleveland Indians set club record for longest, 9 inn
game (3:17)
1978 - Formation of Major Indoor Soccer League announced
1979 - J R Richard throws major league record 6 wild pitches
in Astrodome
1979 - Soyuz 33 launched with a Russian & a Bulgarian
1979 - Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak: A tornado lands in
Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
1981 - "Caveman" with Ringo premieres
1981 - Computer glitch keeps Space Shuttle Columbia grounded
1981 - France performs nuclear test
1981 - Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands elected to
Brit Parliament
1982 - LA Kings losing 5-0 to Edmonton in 3rd period, win in
OT 6-5
1982 - Penguins 2-Isles 1 (OT)-Preliminary- Isles hold 2-1
lead
1983 - Baltimore's Eddie Murray hits his 1,000 career hit
1983 - Caps 3-Isles 6-Patrick Div Semifinals-Isles win
series 3-2
1983 - Hennie Kuiper (Neth) wins Paris-Roubaix cycle race
1983 - Jordan king Hussein ceases negotiations with PLO
1983 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA J&B Scotch Pro-Am Golf
Tournament
1984 - Damaged Solar Max satellite snared by Challenger
shuttle
1984 - John Long (Detroit) ends NBA free throw streak of 51
games
1984 - US Senate condemns CIA mining of Nicaraguan harbors
1985 - At 80 Leo Sites becomes oldest bowler to score a 300
game
1985 - Caps 4-Isles 3 (OT)-Patrick Div Semifinals-Caps hold
1-0 lead
1985 - Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS
51-B mission
1986 - "Big Deal" opens at Broadway Theater NYC
for 70 performances
Pakistani Politican Benazir BhuttoPakistani Politican
Benazir Bhutto 1986 - Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan
1986 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1988 - 52nd Golf Masters Championship: Sandy Lyle wins,
shooting a 281
1988 - 8th Golden Raspberry Awards: Leonard Part 6 wins
1988 - Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA San Diego Inamori Golf
Classic
1988 - Herschel Walker performs Fort Worth Ballet
1988 - Islanders beat Devils 5-4 (OT) 1st round tied at 2-2
1989 - 10th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1989 - 24th Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams
Jr, Alabama
1989 - Intel corp announces shipment of 80-486 chip
1989 - H J Heinz, Van Camp Seafood & Bumble Bee Seafood
say they would not buy tuna caught in nets that also trap dolphins
1990 - CUNY/Lehman College, Bronx, opens a branch campus in
Hiroshma Japan
1990 - Curtly Ambrose takes 8-45 in cricket vs England at
Bridgetown
1991 - Boat rams a tanker in Livorno Italy fog, killing
about 138
1991 - LA King Wayne Gretzky scores NHL record 93rd playoff
goal
NHL all-time top scorer Wayne GretzkyNHL all-time top scorer
Wayne Gretzky 1991 - Last automat (coin operated cafeteria) closes (3rd &
42nd St, NYC)
1991 - Martin Zubero swims world record 200m backstroke
(1:52.51)
1991 - A rare tropical storm develops in the Southern
Hemisphere near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
1992 - 25 die in a bus bombing in Sri Lanka
1992 - Floriade (Flower Show) opens at Hague Neth
1992 - NHL strike ends after 10 days
1993 - BPAA US Open by Del Ballard Jr
1993 - Ottawa Senators win 1st road game (Islanders) after
38 straight loses
1993 - Pittsburgh Penguins win their NHL record 17 game
winning streak
1994 - "Les Miserables," opens at Hiten Theatre,
Osaka
1994 - 58th Golf Masters Championship: Jose M Olazabal wins,
shooting a 279
1995 - "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" opens at Lyceum
Theater NYC for 24 perfs
1995 - NYC bans smoking in all restaurants that seat 35 or
more
1998 - The Belfast Agreement is signed.
2005 - 69th Golf Masters Championship: Tiger Woods wins,
shooting a 276
Golfer Tiger WoodsGolfer Tiger Woods 2006 - Hundreds of
thousands protest H.R. 4437 (aka the "Sensenbrenner Bill") in the
United States.
2006 - 40th CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood
& Kenny Chesney wins
2010 - Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk,
Russia, killing all 96 people on board including President Lech Kaczyński.
2011 - 75th Golf Masters Championship: Charl Schwartzel
wins, shooting a 274
2012 - United Nations deadline for Syrian troop withdrawal
passes as violence continues
2012 - Apple Inc claims a value of $600 billion making it
the largest company by market capitalization in the world
2012 - Rick Santorum suspends his candidacy for the
Republican Presidential nomination making Mitt Romney the overwhelming
favourite
2012 - Raymond Aubrac, French Resistance Leader, dies at 97
2013 - Japan and Taiwan sign an agreement on fishing rights
around the Senkaku Islands
1741 - Frederick II of Prussia defeated Maria Theresa's forces at Mollwitz and conquered Silesia. 1790 - The U.S. patent system was established. 1809 - Austria declared war on France and its forces entered Bavaria. 1814 - Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Toulouse by the British and the Spanish. The defeat led to his abdication and exile to Elba. 1825 - The first hotel opened in Hawaii. 1849 - Walter Hunt patented the safety pin. He sold the rights for $100. 1854 - The constitution of the Orange Free State in south Africa was proclaimed. 1862 - Union forces began the bombardment of Fort Pulaski in Georgia along the Tybee River. 1865 - During the American Civil War, at Appomattox, General Robert E. Lee issued his last order. 1866 - The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was incorporated. 1902 - South African Boers accepted British terms of surrender. 1912 - The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England. 1916 - The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) held its first championship tournament. 1919 - In Mexico, revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was killed by government troops. 1922 - The Genoa Conference opened. The meeting was used to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after World War I. 1925 - F. Scott Fitzgerald published "The Great Gatsby" for the first time. 1930 - The first synthetic rubber was produced. 1932 - Paul von Hindenburg was elected president of Germany with 19 million votes. Adolf Hitler came in second with 13 million votes. 1938 - Germany annexed Austria after Austrians had voted in a referundum to merge with Germany. 1941 - In World War II, U.S. troops occupied Greenland to prevent Nazi infiltration. 1941 - Ford Motor Co. became the last major automaker to recognize the United Auto Workers as the representative for its workers. 1944 - Russian troops recaptured Odessa from the Germans. 1945 - German Me 262 jet fighters shot down ten U.S. bombers near Berlin. 1953 - Warner Bros. released "House of Wax." It was the first 3-D movie to be released by a major Hollywood studio. 1953 - Actress Hedy Lamarr became a U.S. citizen. 1959 - Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married commoner Michiko Shoda. 1960 - The U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Bill. 1961 - Gary Player of South Africa became the first foreign golfer to win the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. 1963 - 129 people died when the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher failed to surface off Cape Cod, MA. 1967 - The 13-day strike by the American Federation of Radio-TV Artists (AFTRA) came to an end less than two hours before the 39th Academy Awards presentation went on the air. 1968 - U.S. President Johnson replaced General Westmoreland with General Creighton Abrams in Vietnam. 1971 - The American table tennis team arrived in China. They were the first group of Americans officially allowed into China since the founding of the People Republic in 1949. The team had recieved the surprise invitation while in Japan for the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. 1972 - An earthquake in southern Iran killed more than 5,000 people. 1972 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union joined with 70 other nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare. 1973 - In Switzerland, 108 people died when a plane crashed while attempting to land at Basel. 1974 - Yitzhak Rabin replaced resigning Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir. Meir resigned over differences within her Labor Party. 1980 - Spain and Britain agreed to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain. It had been closed since 1969. 1981 - Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands was elected to the British Parliament. 1981 - The maiden launch of the space shuttle Columbia was cancelled because of a computer malfunction. 1984 - The U.S. Senate condemned the CIA mining of Nicaraguan harbors. 1988 - On Wall Street, 48 million shares of Navistar International stock changed hands in a single-block trade. It was the largest transaction ever executed on the New York Stock Exchange. 1990 - Three European hostages kidnapped at sea in 1987 by Palestinian extremists were released in Beirut. 1992 - A bomb exploded in London's financial district. The bomb, set off by the Irish Republican Army, killed three people and injured 91. 1992 - Outside Needles, CA, comedian Sam Kinison was killed when a pickup truck slammed into his car on a desert road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. 1992 - In Los Angeles, financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed. The convictions were later overturned. 1993 - South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani was assassinated. 1994 - NATO warplanes launched air strikes for the first time on Serb forces that were advancing on the Bosnian Muslim town of Gordazde. The area had been declared a U.N. safe area. 1996 - U.S. President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique used to end pregnancies in their late stages. 1997 - Rod Steiger received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1998 - Negotiators reached a peace accord on governing British ruled Northern Ireland. Britain's direct rule was ended. 1999 - The www.June4.org web site was launched by Chinese dissidents and human rights activists to promote their campaign for democracy in China. 2000 - Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reported irregularities in the voting in Georgia's presidential election on April 9. President Eduard Shevardnadze was reelected to a new five-year term. 2000 - Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player in baseball history to reach 400 home runs. He was 30 years, 141 days old. 2001 - Jane Swift took office as the first female governor of Massachusetts. She succeeded Paul Cellucci, who had resigned to become the U.S. ambassador to Canada. 2001 - The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness. 2002 - Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Senate as a representative of the Israeli government. He warned that suicide bombers would spread to the U.S. if Israel was not allowed to finish its military offensive in the West Bank. Netanyaho also cited the goals of dismantling the terror regime and expelling Arafat from the region, ridding the Palestinian territories of terrorist weapons and establishing "physical barriers" to protect Israelis from future Palestinian attacks. 2009 - In Fiji, President Josefa Iloilo suspended the nation's Constitution, dismissed all judges and constitutional appointees and assumed all governance in the country.
1790 The U.S. patent system was formed. 1849 The safety pin was patented by Walter Hunt, in New York. 1866 The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was chartered. 1912 Titanic set sail on its fateful voyage. 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers announced that Jackie Robinson had signed with the team. 1963 The atomic-powered submarine Thresher sank off Cape Cod, Mass. 1970 Paul McCartney announced the official split of the Beatles. 1974 Israeli prime minister Golda Meir announced her resignation. 1998 The Northern Ireland "Good Friday Accord" was reached. 2003 The U.S. House passed the "Amber Alert" bill. It provided a system for alerting the public about missing or abducted children.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr10.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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