On This Day — 10 April

2023

A mass shooting occurs at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, that leaves five victims dead and eight wounded.

2023 Louisville bank shooting

2016

The Paravur temple accident, in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for the seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.

Puttingal temple fire

2016

An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, impacting India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.

2016 Afghanistan earthquake

2010

Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.

Polish Air Force

2009

President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.

President of Fiji

1998

The Good Friday Agreement is signed in Northern Ireland.

Good Friday Agreement

1991

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

Moby Prince disaster

1991

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

South Atlantic tropical cyclone

1988

The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.

Ojhri Camp disaster

1981

Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is elected to Westminster as the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He died twenty-six days later.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

1979

Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people.

1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak

1973

Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland, killing 108 people.

Invicta International Airlines Flight 435

1972

Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are discovered by construction workers in Shandong.

Yinqueshan Han Tombs Bamboo Slips Museum

1972

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

Vietnam War

1970

Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

Paul McCartney

1968

The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry, sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.

TEV Wahine

1963

One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.

Submarine

1944

Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.

Rudolf Vrba

1941

World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.

World War II

1925

The Russian city of Tsaritsyn is renamed Stalingrad to honor the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary, who had guided the defense of Tsaritsyn during the Russian Civil War in 1920.

Volgograd

1919

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

Mexican Revolution

1919

The Third Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.

Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents

1912

RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, UK, on her maiden and only voyage.

Titanic

1900

British suffer a sharp defeat by the Boers south of Brandfort. Six hundred British troops are killed and wounded and 800 taken prisoner.

Brandfort

1896

Summer Olympics: The Olympic marathon is run ending with the victory of Greek athlete Spyridon Louis.

1896 Summer Olympics

1887

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

Easter

1872

The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.

Arbor Day

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 British/Indian troops die.

Ethiopia

1866

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

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

1865

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

American Civil War

1864

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

Maximilian I of Mexico

1858

After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Big Ben

1826

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

Missolonghi

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.

Gregory V of Constantinople

1821

Greek War of Independence: the island of Psara joins the Greek struggle for independence.

Greek War of Independence

1816

The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.

Federal government of the United States

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.

Mount Tambora

1814

Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington attack Toulouse held by Marshall Soult, driving out the French after fierce fighting.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

1809

Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.

Napoleonic Wars

1796

War of the First Coalition: A surprise Austrian attack at the Battle of Voltri marks the beginning of the Italian Campaign, the decisive campaign under Napoleon Bonaparte that will end the war a year later.

War of the First Coalition

1741

War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.

War of the Austrian Succession

1724

Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66, his first cantata composed for Easter in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1717

Robert Walpole resigns from the British government, commencing the Whig Split which lasts until 1720.

Robert Walpole

1710

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

Statute of Anne

1606

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.

Virginia Company of London

1545

The settlement of Villa Imperial de Carlos V (now the city of Potosí) in Bolivia is founded after the discovery of huge silver deposits in the area.

Potosí

1500

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

Ludovico Sforza

1407

Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma".

5th Karmapa, Deshin Shekpa

847

Election of Pope Leo IV following the death of Pope Sergius II.

Pope Leo IV

837

Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).

Halley's Comet

428

Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Nestorius

238

During the year of Six Emperors, forces of Gordian I and Gordian II are defeated by those of Maximinus Thrax in the battle of Carthage.

Year of the Six Emperors