April 10 Birthday
On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. The eruption killed 10,000 people directly and another 80,000 from famine and disease in the following year. The ash and aerosols spread around the globe, blocking sunlight and lowering temperatures by as much as 5°F. 1816 became known as the "Year Without a Summer" — snow fell in New England in June, crops failed across Europe and North America, and famine spread. Mary Shelley, trapped by the weather in Switzerland, wrote Frankenstein. Lord Byron wrote "Darkness." The connection between the eruption and the weather was not understood at the time — it was not until the 20th century that scientists linked volcanic aerosols to global cooling. The RMS Titanic departed Southampton on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It stopped at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, before heading west across the Atlantic with 2,224 people aboard. It had twenty lifeboats — enough for 1,178 people, which exceeded the legal requirement. The ship was designed to carry sixty-four lifeboats, but White Star Line reduced the number to make the deck look less cluttered. The ship's design included sixteen watertight compartments, and it was advertised as "practically unsinkable." Four days later, it hit an iceberg and sank. 1,517 people died. The ASPCA was founded on April 10, 1866, by Henry Bergh, a New York diplomat who had been appalled by the treatment of animals he witnessed in Russia. The organization was the first humane society in the Western Hemisphere. Its first case involved a man beating a horse in the street. Bergh himself arrested the man. The ASPCA was given legal authority to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty cases — a power it still holds in New York. The concept of animal welfare was radical in 1866. Animals were property, and their treatment was a private matter. Bergh argued that cruelty to animals degraded the perpetrator and the society that tolerated it. Joseph Pulitzer, born this day in 1847 in Hungary, emigrated to the United States at seventeen to fight in the Civil War. After the war, he worked as a reporter in St. Louis, bought the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and later the New York World. He pioneered investigative journalism, Sunday editions, comics, and the use of illustrations. He also pioneered sensationalism — his papers invented the term "yellow journalism" — but he established the Columbia School of Journalism with a $2 million endowment, and the Pulitzer Prize bears his name. People born on April 10 fall under the zodiac sign of Aries. The birthstone is Diamond and the birth flower is Daisy. Historical events on April 10 include 1815: Mount Tambora erupts, largest volcanic eruption in recorded history (causes "Year Without a Summer"), 1866: ASPCA founded in New York City, 1912: RMS Titanic departs Southampton on maiden voyage. Famous people born on April 10 include Joseph Pulitzer (1847), Omar Sharif (1932), Mandy Patinkin (1952).