April 10 in history — What Happened Today in History

Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are discovered by construction workers in Shandong.

Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.

Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.

The TEV Wahine, a New Zealand ferry, sinks in Wellington harbour due to a fierce storm – the strongest winds ever in Wellington. Out of the 734 people on board, fifty-three died.

One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.

Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.

World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.

The Russian city of Tsaritsyn is renamed Stalingrad to honor the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary, who had guided the defense of Tsaritsyn during the Russian Civil War in 1920.

Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.

The Third Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.

RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, UK, on her maiden and only voyage.

British suffer a sharp defeat by the Boers south of Brandfort. Six hundred British troops are killed and wounded and 800 taken prisoner.

Summer Olympics: The Olympic marathon is run ending with the victory of Greek athlete Spyridon Louis.

On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.

The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.

At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.

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

American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.

Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.

After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.

Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.

Greek War of Independence: the island of Psara joins the Greek struggle for independence.

The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.

The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.

Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington attack Toulouse held by Marshall Soult, driving out the French after fierce fighting.

Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.

War of the First Coalition: A surprise Austrian attack at the Battle of Voltri marks the beginning of the Italian Campaign, the decisive campaign under Napoleon Bonaparte that will end the war a year later.

Charlie Culberson, American baseball player

Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher

Kareem Jackson, American football player

Haley Joel Osment, American actor

Jan-Phillip Tadsen, German politician

Ahmed Adel Abdel Moneam, Egyptian footballer

Adam Friedland, American comedian

Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano

Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter

Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer and manager

Corey Kluber, American baseball pitcher

Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer and manager

Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer

Peter Walsh, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Australian Minister for Finance (born 1935)

Robert Edwards, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925)

Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (born 1921)

Raymond Aubrac, French engineer and activist (born 1914)

Barbara Buchholz, German theremin player and composer (born 1959)

Lili Chookasian, Armenian-American operatic singer (born 1921)

Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (born 1922)

Akin Omoboriowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (born 1932)

Casualties in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash included:

Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (born 1939)

Deborah Digges, American poet and educator (born 1950)

Ioannis Patakis, Greek politician (born 1940)

Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (born 1910)