April 10th Major News Events

1968 New Zealand Ferry Disaster

1968 : A ferry the "TEV Wahine" capsizes in Wellington Harbor, New Zealand after running aground during one of the worst storms ever to ever hit New Zealand. The final death toll is expected to exceed 50 with most due to drowning.

1970 UK Beatles Break Up

1970 : Paul McCartney releases his first solo album after rifts between the group and announced that he has split from the Beatles.

1972 Iran Earthquake

1972 : An Earthquake centered on the town of Ghir, in southern Iraq kills up to an estimated 4,000 people in the massive earthquake an aircraft which flew over the area reports that there was not a single dwelling left standing above the ground . Soldiers, police and villagers dig survivors from the rubble for almost four days after the disaster and the final death toll is closer to 5,300 than the original estimates.

1972 Biological Warfare

1972 : Seventy nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed an agreement banning biological warfare.

1979 U.S.A. Terrible Tornadoes Tuesday

1979 : Thirteen tornadoes ripped through Texas and Oklahoma today in a deadly outbreak that meteorologists later referred to as "Terrible Tuesday." The twisters destroyed thousands of homes.

1981 UK Bobby Sands Elected

1981 : The imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is elected to Westminster as the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Bobby Sands continued his hunger strike and died less than a month later on May 5 1981.

1985 US and USSR Prepare for talks

1985 : In the US President Reagan asks for all ties for US - Soviet to be checked prior to meeting next month with Soviet Union , meanwhile Gorbachev tells Russian congress he does not trust the Americans.

1992 UK Conservatives Win 4th Term

1992 : Conservatives under John Major win a forth term in the UK General Election.

1998 Northern Ireland Peace Accord Signed

1998 : After many years of violence in Ireland the Peace Accord ( called the Good Friday Agreement ) is signed today after 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks and can be considered a triumph for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Republic of Ireland's leader, Bertie Ahern, who have succeeded where all other attempts have failed.

2002 Netherlands Assisted Suicide

2002 : Restrictions were loosened further for mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness. This follows earlier legislation in 1993 when the Netherlands decriminalized doctor-assisted suicide.

2002 Israel Suicide Bomber

2002 : Eight Israelis are killed by a suicide bomber aboard a bus in Haifa.

2003 U.S.A. Child Protection

2003 : The House passes the bill creating a national Amber Alert system and strengthening child pornography laws.

2006 U.S.A. Immigration rallies

2006 : Following the No Vote on the Immigration bill ( often referred to as the Amnesty Bill ) that was designed for millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens two day earlier. Immigrants and their supporters have marched in the hundreds of thousands in more than one hundred cities throughout the country, casting off the old fears of their illegal status to assert that they have a right to a life in United States. The marches took place in Washington, New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Atlanta, as well as in smaller communities like Hyde Park, New York, Garden City, Kansas, and Belle Glade, Florida. Proponents of the amnesty have evoked the tactics and slogans of the civil rights era.

2007 Wall Between the Shiite and Sunni areas of Baghdad

2007 : The military has started to build a three-mile concrete wall in the center of Baghdad. This is to run along the most murderous streets that separate the citys Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The wall has been planned because of the hardening sectarian divide in Baghdad, and is a central part of George Bushs final push to pacify the capital. Work began under cover of darkness and is due for completion by the end of the month.

10 Apr, 2008 US Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamist Temple Sect Raided

2008 : A Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamist Temple Sect is raided in West Texas, the authorities suspect that older men had sex with under-age girls and practiced polygamy at Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the ranch in Eldorado, Texas. During the raid 416 children were placed in temporary state custody on suspicion of being abused or under the threat of abuse or neglect.

10 Apr, 2008 E.U. Parliament has called for a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony

2008 : The International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) had urged China to fulfill its promises to respect human rights in Tibet, when the E.U. Parliament passed a non-binding resolution in favor of boycotting of the opening ceremonies in Beijing. In today's vote, the E.U. Parliament has expressed its support for a boycott of the August 8 opening ceremonies unless Beijing engages in dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The Parliament has also appealed to the individual E.U. states to consider not participating in the ceremonies. The E.U. resolution does not bind the bloc's twenty-seven members into any form of compliance.

10 Apr, 2009 Fiji President Josefa Iloilo Takes Absolute Power

2009 : Following the Court of Appeal ruling that the government of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is illegal President Josefa Iloilo suspends the nation's Constitution and dismisses all judges assuming control. Following protests he orders security forces and the military to take "all reasonable steps" to maintain law and order and supports Prime Minister Bainimarama.

10 Apr, 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crashes in Smolensk Oblast, Russia

2010 : A Polish Air Force Tu-154 crashes in Smolensk Oblast, Russia carrying the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, army chief, central bank governor, MPs, leading historians, and many top Polish government officials to their deaths. The cause of the crash was believed to be pilot error.

10 Apr, 2011 Bob Dylan Plays First Concert in Vietnam

2011 : Legendary folk singer and songwriter, Bob Dylan, who had become a voice for the anti-Vietnam war movement in the 1960s and 1970s in America, played his first concert in the Communist country of Vietnam. The sixty-nine year old musician held the concert in Ho Chi Minh City. Only about half of the seats at the venue were sold for the concert, this was largely attributed to the fact that nearly half of the population of Vietnam was under thirty years old and had no memories of the war with the United States.

10 Apr, 2012 US Rick Santorum Ends White House Bid

2012 : Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum announced the end of his run for the White House effectively leaving the Republican nomination to Mitt Romney. Santorum was behind Romney in funding and the polls and had been taking time off of the campaign after his daughter was admitted to the hospital.

10 Apr, 2012 Norway Mass Killer Breivik Declared Sane

2012 : Anders Breivik, the accused mass killer that orchestrated a bomb attack and shooting spree that left seventy-seven people dead in July of 2011, was declared sane preceding his impending trial. The declaration was made so that he would be allowed to face trial and a jail term, he had been previously declared insane after an evaluation in November of 2011.

10 Apr, 2013 France Louvre Closes Over Pickpockets

2013 : The Louvre in Paris did not open on this day because workers were protesting against pickpockets at the museum. Workers had stated that the pickpockets were becoming increasingly aggressive and organized and they had been coming to work afraid of being targeted. The management at the museum stated that they would try to come up with a solution to the problem, even though they had already asked the police for more assistance.

10 Apr, 2014 Child Bride Poisons Husband in Nigeria

2014 : Police confirmed that a fourteen year old child bride confessed to killing her thirty-five year old husband who she was forced to marry. She had said that she put rat poison in his food, another three people died as a result and ten others were hospitalized.