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Born on This Day

Dolores Huerta

1930 - 2026

Labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. Declared, “Sí, se puede” (“Yes, you can”).

Omar Sharif

1932 - 2015

Egyptian actor best known for classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl.

John Madden

1936 - 2021

Football coach, TV commentator and face of the “Madden NFL” video game series. Led the 1976 Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl victory.

Dolores HuertaGetty Images

Omar SharifGetty Images

John MaddenBettmann Archive

1925

APR10

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third novel, "The Great Gatsby," is published to mixed reviews and disappointing sales—fewer than 25,000 copies by the author’s death in 1940. By the 2010s, it is routinely selling 500,000 copies a year.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on April 10th

Indonesian volcano erupts, killing more than 100,000

On April 10, the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history begins in earnest when Indonesia’s Tambora volcano sends ash 20 miles into the atmosphere and boiling liquified rock starts streaming down its slopes. Its “cacophony of explosions” could be heard hundreds of miles away and, within hours, nearby villages ceased to exist, forests were […]

Arson uncovers torture chamber in mansion of New Orleans enslaver

On April 10, 1834, a fire at the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana, leads to the discovery of a torture chamber where enslaved workers are routinely brutalized by Delphine LaLaurie. Rescuers found a 70-year-old black woman trapped in the kitchen during the fire because she was chained up while LaLaurie was busy saving her […]

Safety pin is patented, rights sold for just $400

On April 10, 1849, Walter Hunt—a mechanic and independent inventor from New York—patents his metal invention with a spring called the safety pin. Although later businessmen would make a fortune selling the ubiquitous devices, Hunt sells rights to it for just $400 and never earns anything else. Born on July 29, 1796, in Martinsburg, New […]

After surrendering to Union, General Lee gives final address to troops

One day after surrendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his army for the last time. “After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. I need not tell the brave […]

Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata assassinated in Mexico

Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and Indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, is ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces. Born a peasant in 1879, Zapata was forced into the Mexican army in 1908 following his attempt to recover village lands taken over by a rancher. After the revolution began in […]

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Croatia declares independence

On April 10, 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 […]

Bataan Death March begins

The day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. During this infamous trek, known as the “Bataan Death March,” the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in […]

First color 3-D film opens

On April 10, 1953, the horror film The House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, opens at New York’s Paramount Theater. Released by Warner Brothers, it was the first movie from a major motion-picture studio to be shot using the three-dimensional, or stereoscopic, film process and one of the first horror films to be shot in […]

South African Gary Player becomes first international Masters champion

On April 10, 1961, Gary Player, a 25-year-old South African, beats defending champion Arnold Palmer and amateur Charles Coe by a stroke to become the first international champion at the Masters. Palmer double-bogeys the 18th hole at Augusta National to give Player the win. As part of golf’s “Big Three” with Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, […]

Atomic submarine USS Thresher sinks in the Atlantic, killing all on board

On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher, an atomic submarine, sinks in the Atlantic Ocean, killing the entire crew. One hundred and twenty-nine sailors and civilians were lost when the sub unexpectedly plunged to the sea floor roughly 300 miles off the coast of New England. The Thresher was launched on July 9, 1960, from […]

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Paul McCartney announces his break from the Beatles

On April 10, 1970, when promoting the release of his forthcoming solo album, Paul McCartney announces that he is taking a break from the Beatles, the legendary rock band he had been a part of for a decade. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. The Beatles spent the better part of three years breaking […]

U.S. table tennis team visits communist China

The U.S. table tennis team begins a weeklong visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the invitation of China’s communist government. The well-publicized trip was part of the PRC’s attempt to build closer diplomatic relations with the United States, and was the beginning of what some pundits in the United States referred to […]

Lee Elder becomes first Black golfer to play in Masters

On April 10, 1975, 41-year-old Lee Elder becomes the first Black golfer to play in the Masters, considered the most prestigious event in the sport. Elder shoots 37 on the front and back nine for a 74 at the Augusta (Georgia) National Golf Club and trails leader Bobby Nichols by seven strokes. “I didn’t have […]

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