April 10 : A leader is a dealer in hope.

On this day, 10 Apr...

1633 - Bananas appeared for the first time in Britain (London), imported by a merchant in the Bahamas. These caused a sensation. (It was not until 1884, though, that bananas were regularly imported, from the Canary Islands into Britain by Elder Dempster and Co).

1815 - The massive volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora was the most powerful in 1,600 years. It formed a crater 5-miles across on Indonesia's Sumbawa island, lowered the island by 4,000 feet, and killed 10,000 people. The record amounts of ash Tambora spewed into the atmosphere encircled the globe, screened the sun's light and caused a global drop in temperature. Thus 1816 was a “Year Without a Summer,” with severe climate abnormalities across the globe. Frosts killed crops and late heavy snowstorms occurred. Elsewhere, there were severe storms, excessive rainfall and floods. Widespread famine and disease killed 80,000 more people.

1845 - Gingham manufacturing machinery was patented by inventor Erastus B. Bigelow. (This lightweight fabric is woven from yarn-dyed cotton in striped, checked or plaid patterns, most often using white and bold colour. It is used for clothing and such household items as curtains or aprons).

1849 - The first U.S. patent for a safety pin was issued to Walter Hunt of New York City. When short of cash, within the space of three hours, he conceived the idea, made a model, immediately sold the patent rights for $400. (However, safety pins existed prior to this patent. In Great Britain, a safety pin was patented by Charles Rowley on 12 Oct of the same year).

1875 - Swami Dayanand Saraswati established the Arya Samaj at Bombay and in 1877 in Lahore.

1923 - Hitler demands "hatred and more hatred" in Berlin.

1944 - The first synthetic quinine was produced by Dr Robert Burns Woodward (on his birthday) and Dr. William von Eggers Doering. Quinine, an anti-malarial drug, is an organic chemical.

1955 - Polio vaccine tested a success by Dr Jonas Salk.

1982 - Indian National Satellite (INSAT-1A) launched. First operational multi-purpose communication and meteorology satellite procured from USA.

1993 - Student hijackers of IA plane overpowered in Lucknow.

1995 - The world's first national DNA database was launched in England and Wales. New legislation gave police the authority to retain DNA samples from those previously arrested,. This enabled a revolutionary new tool to uniquely match suspects to crime scene evidence. Mouth swabs or hair samples were routinely collected were used for analysis.

1997 - Kerala becomes the first state to have public telephones in all its villages, accessible over STD/ISD from any part of the world.

Born

1894 - Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, industrialist.

1974 – Shweta Menon, actor.

1986 - Ayesha Takia, actor.

RIP

1995 - Morarji Ranchhodji Desai, first non-Congress Prime Minister of India (1977-79) and Chief Minister of Bombay, passed away at the age of 99. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna.

1954 - Auguste Lumière. Frenchman who, with his brother Louis, invented and pioneered the manufacturing of photographic equipment.

Titbits

1970 - Paul McCartney officially announces the split of The Beatles.

You may have known...

Many fighters in Kashmir came from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Pakistan denies funding insurgency in Kashmir, but its leaders oppose Indian rule there and say its people should decide its fate by referendum.