April 10
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Featured Event
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Bananas debut in London
On this day in 1633, people gathered outside a shop window in London to stare at something few of them had ever seen before: a cluster of strange, curved fruits recently arrived from Bermuda. These bananas were nothing like the sweet, familiar Cavendish variety many of us eat today; they were most likely intended to be cooked, not eaten fresh. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© 1965 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Swedish actor Max von Sydow, best known for his dour, brooding characterizations in films directed by Ingmar Bergman and whose film career spanned more than half a century, was born this day in 1929.
Famous Birthdays
More on April 10
Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al.
2019
Astronomers released the first-ever image of a black hole, which is in the center of the massive galaxy M87. [Learn more about black holes.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2001
The Netherlands passed a bill permitting euthanasia, the first such national law in the world.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1998
The Good Friday Agreement was signed, calling for devolved government in Northern Ireland; the accord was ratified by Ireland and Northern Ireland the following month.
Orion Press, Tokyo
1988
After taking a decade to build, the Seto Great Bridge, spanning the Inland Sea in Japan, was opened to traffic. [Take our quiz about bridges.]
NASA/National Space Science Data Center
1986
Halley’s Comet reached the perigee (point nearest Earth) of its most recent passage near the planet. [From celestial bodies to satellites, prove what you know in our space science quiz.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1973
Pakistan adopted its third constitution, shifting the role of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from president to prime minister. [Test your knowledge of notable prime ministers.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1972
The development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons were outlawed by the Biological Weapons Convention, signed by more than 150 countries. [Take our quiz about weapons and warfare.]
© United Artists Corporation
1957
The courtroom classic 12 Angry Men was released in the United States; it starred Henry Fonda as a juror who tries to convince the others that the accused murderer may be innocent. [How much do you know about movies?]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1938
Weeks after Adolf Hitler invaded and annexed Austria, 99.7 percent of voters there approved the Anschluss (German: “Union”).
© D. Morrison—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1932
Actor Omar Sharif, known for his iconic roles in such films as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965), was born in Alexandria, Egypt. [Test your knowledge of cinema.]
© 2013 Warner Brothers
1925
F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, which became a classic of American literature. [Can you match these authors to their novels?]
H. Roger-Viollet
1925
The first government led by French premier Édouard Herriot, a Radical Party leader who had been put into office by the left-wing coalition Cartel des Gauches, fell. [How much do you know about French history?]
Archivo Casasola
1919
Emiliano Zapata, a revolutionary and social reformer who fought in guerrilla actions during and after the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), was ambushed and fatally shot. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Latin America.]
The Bettmann Archive
1912
The RMS Titanic embarked on its maiden voyage, which ended in tragedy several days later when the luxury liner struck an iceberg and sank. [How much do you know about the Titanic?]
© Jose Luis Pelaez Inc—DigitalVision/Getty Images
1872
People in Nebraska celebrated the first Arbor Day, planting more than one million trees. Other U.S. states and countries later adopted the holiday. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about trees.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1866
Three years after stopping a carriage driver in Russia from beating his horse, Henry Bergh of the United States founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City. The ASPCA became one of the largest organizations dedicated to halting cruelty to animals.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1849
The safety pin was patented by Walter Hunt in the United States; he later sold his rights to the fastener for $400. [Take our quiz about inventors and inventions.]
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
1583
Hugo Grotius, the Dutch jurist and scholar whose legal masterpiece, De Jure Belli ac Pacis (1625; On the Law of War and Peace), was one of the first great contributions to modern international law, was born in Delft, Netherlands.