Local history

50 years ago: April 10, 1976

Nine students from Tyrone High School and teacher George Wilbur were going on a 10-day trip to Rome, Italy. Students from Virginia, New Jersey and other states were also going and the students had to pay their own way.

25 years ago: April 10, 2001

Transportation Workers of America Union Local 27, Tom Lutton president, was to distribute 10,000 flyers in Blair County protesting the closing of the Hollidaysburg Car Shop and then move the protest to Bedford and Cambria Counties. At least five other unions had written thousands of letters to the federal Surface Transportation Board.

10 years ago: April 10, 2016

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett was the special guest at the Mock Presidential Convention held at St. Francis University’s John F. Kennedy Student Center. The school had been holding mock conventions for almost 60 years.

— Compiled by Tim Doyle

World history

Today is Friday, April 10, the 100th day of 2026. There are 265 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history:

On April 10, 1998, the Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators signed the Good Friday Agreement, a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.

On this date:

– In 1815, Indonesia’s Mount Tambora exploded in the biggest known volcanic eruption in 1,000 years, one that altered global weather. About 92,000 people are thought to have died, including 82,000 who perished of starvation and disease and 10,000 killed by its direct impact.

– In 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, bound for New York on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

– In 1919, Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata was assassinated by forces loyal to President Venustiano Carranza.

– In 1963, the nuclear submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank during deep-diving tests east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, killing all 129 aboard.

– In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team arrived in China at the invitation of the communist government for a goodwill visit that came to be known as “ping-pong diplomacy.”

– In 2010, a plane crashed on approach in dense fog to the Smolensk airport in Russia, killing Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other government and armed forces figures as well as many prominent Poles.

– In 2019, scientists released the first image ever made of a black hole, revealing a fiery, doughnut-shape object in a galaxy 55 million light-years from earth.

— The Associated Press