What Happened On
Oswald posing with a rifle a few weeks before the shooting
Oswald posing with a rifle a few weeks before the shooting
Oswald Attempts to Assassinate General
April 10, 1963
Lee Harvey Oswald fires a gun at the home of retired U.S. Major General Ted Walker. However, the bullet struck a window pane and shattered and Walker was not seriously injured. Oswald may have targeted Walker because of his staunch anti-communist stance. It was discovered that Oswald was the shooter in this incident when Oswald's widow told authorities about it during the Warren Commission's investigation into Oswald after the Kennedy assassination, which occurred just months after this incident.
Former Beatle Dies of Aneurysm
April 10, 1962
Stuart Sutcliffe was the bass guitarist for the Beatles before they became famous (May 1960 - August 1961), but left the band to pursue his art career. He died at the age of 21 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Although, the cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, it may have been the result of an earlier head injury he received in a fight after a Beatles' performance in January 1961. Fellow band members John Lennon and Pete Best went to Sutcliffe's aid, fighting off his attackers. Sutcliffe sustained a fractured skull and Lennon's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe suffered blinding headaches afterwards, but refused medical attention.
Sutcliffe is also partially credited with coming up with the name of the group, when he jokingly suggested "Beatals" as a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. Up to then they were known as "The Quarrymen", but the name was changed to "The Silver Beetles", and later "The Beatles".
Ricky Nelson Plays the Drums and Becomes an Instant Teen Idol
April 10, 1957
Ricky Nelson plays the drums for the first time on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, making him an instant teen-idol. He played drums and sang I'm Walkin' in the episode Ricky, the Drummer. His recording of I'm Walkin' (reaching #4) was then released with A Teenager's Romance (reaching #2) as his first single.
He went on to record Poor Little Fool (1958) which was the first #1 song on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart, selling over 2,000,000 copies.
He once commented, "Anyone who knocks rock 'n' roll either doesn't understand it, or is prejudiced against it, or is just plain square."
First Full-Length 3-D Color Movie from a Major Studio
April 10, 1953
The House of Wax from Warner Bros. starring Vincent Price, premieres in New York City. The audience was required to wear special Polaroid viewers.
Safety Pin
April 10, 1849
A patent for the safety pin is issued to Walter Hunt. Various versions of safety pins date back to the ancient Romans, however, Hunt's version included a spring to hold the pin in place. Hunt sold the rights to his safety pin for $400 (equivalent to $12,440), which went on to earn millions for others.
Hunt's other inventions include a sewing machine, repeating rifle, and fountain pen.
The Year Without Summer - And the Creation of Frankenstein
April 10, 1815
Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia erupts. It is the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The explosion was heard more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away. It released sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere, causing global climate anomalies including the phenomenon known as "volcanic winter." Average global temperatures dropped about 0.7-1.3 °F (0.4-0.7 °C). 1816 became known as the "Year Without Summer" and "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death" because of the effect on North American and European weather. The volcanic fallout ruined agricultural productivity in the local region resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century causing massive deaths due to starvation and disease. The total death toll was at least 71,000 people, of whom 11,000-12,000 were killed directly by the eruption.
It was during this summer that 18-year-old Mary Shelley was challenged to write a horror story. Shortly afterwards, she had a waking dream of a corpse brought back to life. "I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world." She expanded her dream into the classic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).
Iraq War
April 10, 2003
White House spokesman Ari Fleisher states, "But make no mistake - as I said earlier - we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and it is about. And we have high confidence it will be found."
Rodney King Beating
April 10, 1994
King is awarded $3.8 million in damages from the city of Los Angeles. Rodney King became a national symbol of police brutality after he was videotaped being beaten by L.A. police in 1991. He later married one of the jurors that awarded him the money.
The Great Tamale Incident
April 10, 1976
U.S. President Gerald Ford, while touring the Alamo during his reelection campaign, bites into a tamale without first removing its husk. This culinary faux pas didn't help his image as a bumbler. Some believe the extensive media coverage in Texas cost him the vote in that state.
Nuclear Submarine Sinks
April 10, 1963
U.S. Navy's Thresher sinks off the coast of Massachusetts killing all 129 people aboard.
Superman Arrives on Planet Earth
April 10, 1926
Superman arrives on planet Earth, according to the first episode of the 1952 TV show The Adventures of Superman. Farmer Eben Kent and his wife Sarah hear a crash. When they investigate, they find a crashed burning rocket with a baby inside and are amazed that neither the baby nor his blanket were harmed in the fire. They decided to raise the child, naming him Clark.
Note: Superman's official birthday is April 18, 1938, however, various sources give different dates, and it even varies within different issues of the comic books.
ASPCA
April 10, 1866
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is incorporated in New York by Henry Bergh.
Civil War
April 10, 1865
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln receives the news of Lee's surrender to Grant.
Birthdays
Chuck Connors (Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors)
Born April 10, 1921 d. 1992
American 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) actor. Before acting he played for the Boston Celtics (1947-48) and became the first NBA player to shatter a backboard (1946, playing for the Boston Celtics, he shattered a backboard during the pre-game warm-up; it broke due to improper installation). He went on to play baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1949) and Chicago Cubs (1951).
His TV show The Rifleman was one of the few American shows allowed on Soviet television at the time, as it was a favorite of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Connors and Brezhnev would later meet each other at a party given by Richard Nixon in 1973.
TV: The Rifleman (1958-63, Lucas McCain) and Branded (1965-66, Jason McCord). Film: Soylent Green (1973, Tab Fielding).
Creator of Lassie
Eric Knight
Born April 10, 1897 d. 1943
British-American author. He created the character Lassie in a short story published in the Saturday Evening Post (1938), which he expanded into the novel Lassie Come Home (1940). He was killed in a plane crash while on a mission in World War II. He became a U.S. citizen and a major in the U.S. Army Special Services shortly before his death.
Leon Kowalski
Born April 10, 2017
Blade Runner android. Front-line soldier, Nexus-6 replicant, in the 1982 film Blade Runner, played by Brion James.
Jeb Adams
Born April 10, 1961
American actor. TV: Baa Baa Black Sheep (1978, Lt. Jeb Pruitt).
Don Meredith
Born April 10, 1938 d. 2010
American football quarterback, sportscaster, actor, Lipton tea lover.
John Madden
Born April 10, 1936 d. 2021
American Hall of Fame football coach and Emmy-winning Sportscaster. He won Super Bowl XI (1976) as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and endorsed the extremely successful Madden NFL (1988‑) video game series.
Even though his wife had a pilot's license, Madden had a strong aversion to flying so he traveled by bus and train. Consequently, he never did commentary for the Pro Bowl, which was held in Hawaii every year of his broadcasting career (1979-2008).a
Omar Sharif (Michel Dimitri Chalhoub)
Born April 10, 1932 d. 2015
Egyptian actor and world-class bridge player. Film: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Dr. Zhivago (1965).
Max von Sydow (Carl Adolf von Sydow)
Born April 10, 1929 d. 2020
Swedish-born actor. Film: The Seventh Seal (1957, Knight Antonius Block), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965, Christ), The Exorcist (1973, Father Merrin), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, Lor San Tekka). TV: The Game of Thrones (2016, Three-eyed Raven).
Joan Quigley
Born April 10, 1927 d. 2014
American astrologer. Her astrological advice to First Lady Nancy Reagan guided her husband U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Mrs. Reagan began using Quigley after Quigley claimed she could have foreseen the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan had she been watching for it. Donald Regan wrote, "Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco [Quigley] who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise."
Her book, What Does Joan Say?, described her years as astrologer to the White House.
Brumsic Brandon Jr.
Born April 10, 1927 d. 2014
American cartoonist. Creator of Luther (1969-86). Luther was one of the earliest mainstream comic strips to star an African-American in the lead role. Writings: Luther, from inner city.
Sheb Wooley
Born April 10, 1921 d. 2003
American actor, singer. Music: The Purple People Eater (1958, #1), and Hee Haw (cast member and wrote the theme song). TV: Rawhide (Pete Nolan).
Harry Morgan (Harry Bratsburg)
Born April 10, 1915 d. 2011
American actor. TV: Dragnet 1967 (1967-70, Joe Friday's partner Bill Gannon), M*A*S*H (1974-83, Col. Sherman T. Potter), Pete and Gladys (1960-62, Pete), and Roots: The Next Generations (1979, Bob Campbell).
Andy Samuel
Born April 10, 1909 d. 1992
American actor, one of the Little Rascals; he appeared in 19 Our Gang films as one of the oldest of the little gang members.
First Woman U.S. Presidential Cabinet Member
Frances Perkins
Born April 10, 1880 d. 1965
American politician, first woman U.S. presidential cabinet member (1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary of labor).
George Arliss (George Augustus Andrews)
Born April 10, 1868 d. 1946
British Oscar-winning actor. Film: Disraeli (1929, Oscar).
Joseph Pulitzer
Born April 10, 1847 d. 1911
American publisher. The terms of his will established the Pulitzer Prizes.
Salvation Army logos past and present and founders William and Catherine Booth
Salvation Army logos past and present and founders William and Catherine Booth
Co-founder of the Salvation Army
William Booth
Born April 10, 1829 d. 1912
English preacher. He and his wife Catherine Booth founded the Salvation Army (1865).
General Lew Wallace
Born April 10, 1827 d. 1905
American politician, author. Writings: Ben Hur (1880), which he wrote while governor of the New Mexico territory.
Founder of Homeopathic Medicine
Samuel Hahnemann
Born April 10, 1755 d. 1843
German physician. Founder of homeopathic medicine, based on the "law of similars." Hahnemann had noticed that cinchona, the bark of a Peruvian tree, that was used to treat malaria also caused malaria-like symptoms. This led him to postulate the healing principle of "Like cures like: that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms."
He also postulated that many diseases are caused by coffee.
Samuel Heinicke
Born April 10, 1727 d. 1790
German educator. He opened the first German institute for the deaf (1778). He believed that lip reading was the best training method because it made his students speak and understand the language as it was used in society, and was opposed to gesture-based languages.
Deaths
O.J. Simpson (Orenthal James Simpson)
Died April 10, 2024 b. 1947
American football Hall of Fame running back, sportscaster, actor. He was head of the San Francisco street gang "Gladiators" when he was 13. In 1994, he was arrested for and then found not guilty for the murders of his ex-wife and her 25-year-old male friend.
One of the Lesser-Known Beatles
Stuart Sutcliffe
Died April 10, 1962 b. 1940
Scottish painter, musician. Bass guitarist for the Beatles before they became famous (May 1960 - August 1961), but left the band to pursue his art career. He is partially credited with coming up with the name of the group, when he jokingly suggested "Beatals" as a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. Up to then they were known as "The Quarrymen", but the name was changed to "The Silver Beetles", and later "The Beatles".
He died at the age of 21 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Although, the cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, it may have been the result of an earlier head injury he received in a fight after a Beatles' performance in January 1961. Fellow band members John Lennon and Pete Best went to Sutcliffe's aid, fighting off his attackers. Sutcliffe sustained a fractured skull and Lennon's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe suffered blinding headaches afterwards, but refused medical attention.
Sam Kinison (Samuel Burl Kinison)
Died April 10, 1992 b. 1953
American Comedian, actor, former tent-revival preacher. Known for his screams of "Ahh-ohhh-ahhh!" during his performances. From the age of 17 to 24, he was a "fire and brimstone" style preacher. His music video cover of The Troggs' Wild Thing was a hit on MTV.
He was killed when his car was hit by a drunk driver, six days after getting married to his third wife. His wife, who was also in the car, received only minor injuries and a concussion. According to a friend who at the accident scene, Kinison appeared to be having a conversation with an unseen entity, saying "I don't want to die. I don't want to die … But why? … Okay, okay, okay." He then went unconscious and died shortly after.
Film: Back to School.
Quote: "There's no happy ending to cocaine. You either die, you go to jail, or else you run out."
Marjorie Main (Mary Tomlinson)
Died April 10, 1975 b. 1890
American actress. Ma of the Ma and Pa Kettle films (1947-55).
Auguste Lumière
Died April 10, 1954 b. 1862
French motion picture pioneer. He and his brother Louis Lumière developed the Cinématographe motion picture camera and projector. They conducted the first paid movie screening.
Gregory XIII (Ugo Buoncompagni)
Died April 10, 1585 b. 1502
Italian religious leader, 226th Pope (1572-85). He congratulated King Gregory IX for ordering the killing of thousands of Huguenots throughout France (1572). He also instituted the Gregorian calendar (1582).
Louis II
Died April 10, 879 b. 846
King of France (877-79). He was known as "The Stammerer."