History of the Day for:
April 10
- 1847: American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer was born in Mako, Hungary.
- 1849: Walter Hunt patented the safety pin.
- 1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
- 1912: The luxury liner Titanic sailed from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
- 1916: The Professional Golfers Association held its first championship tournament, which was won by Jim Barnes.
- 1919: Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was ambushed and killed by government troops in Mexico.
- 1925: Scribners published the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- 1933: New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps is created.
- 1941: World War II: The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelic's Ustase fascist insurgents in power.
- 1947: Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player to enter the major leagues when the Brooklyn Dodgers bought his contract from the Montreal Royals.
- 1961: Gary Player of South Africa became the first foreign golfer to win the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga.
- 1963: The submarine USS Thresher failed to surface after a deep dive off Cape Cod, Mass., killing 129 in the worst submarine disaster in U.S. history.
- 1967: The 13-day strike by the American Federation of Radio-TV Artists came to an end less than two hours before the 39th Academy Awards presentation went on the air. Three of the four acting winners (Elizabeth Taylor, Sandy Dennis and Paul Scofield) were not present to receive their Oscars. Only Walter Matthau was on hand to get his award for Best Supporting Actor in "The Fortune Cookie."
- 1970: Paul McCartney officially resigned from the Beatles, disbanding the most influential rock group in history at a public news conference.
- 1972: "Theme from 'Shaft'" received an Academy Award for Best Original Song in a film.
- 1974: Golda Meir announced her resignation as prime minister of Israel.
- 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 Southern Hemisphere near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998: The Belfast Agreement is signed.