April 10

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.

1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano in what is now Indonesia, begins a 3 month long eruption, lasting until July. The eruption kills 71,000 people, and causes the 1816 ‘Year without a summer’ in the northern hemisphere.

1816 – The Federal government charters the Second Bank of the United States.

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

1865 – A day after his surrender to Union forces, General Robert E. Lee issues General Order No. 9, explaining the terms of the surrender and his farewell to his troops.

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

1872 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska City, Nebraska with 1 million trees being planted.

1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

1912 – RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden  voyage.

1916 – The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.

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

1939 – Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism, the organization’s “Big Book” and the source of its name, is first published.

1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp and write a detailed report, published by the U.S. government War Refugee Board, about the mass murder being committed there.

1963 – U.S. submarine SSN-593, USS Thresher sinks at sea during deep-diving tests about 220 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts with all 129 hands aboard lost.

1971 – In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a visit called ‘Ping-Pong diplomacy’.

1979 – The Red River Valley tornado outbreak has an F4 tornado hit Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.

2019 – Scientists at Event Horizon Telescope, a global networked array of radio telescopes, announce the first image of a black hole, located in the center of the Messier 87 galaxy in the constellation of Virgo.