TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

On this day in history:

1811 - Australia’s first toll road opens.

1814 - Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Toulouse by the British and the Spanish. The defeat led to his abdication and exile to Elba.

1912 - The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England. 1916 - The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) held its first championship tournament. 1922 - The Genoa Conference opened. The meeting was used to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after World War I. 1932 - Paul von Hindenburg was elected president of Germany with 19 million votes. Adolf Hitler came in second with 13 million votes.

1938 - Germany annexed Austria after Austrians had voted in a referendum to merge with Germany. 1944 - Russian troops recaptured Odessa from the Germans.

1959 - Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito married commoner Michiko Shoda.

1972 - An earthquake in southern Iran killed more than 5000 people.

1973 - In Switzerland, 108 people died when a plane crashed while attempting to land at Basel.

1974 - Yitzhak Rabin replaced resigning Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir. Meir resigned over differences within her Labor Party.

1980 - Spain and Britain agreed to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain. It had been closed since 1969. 1992 - A bomb exploded in London’s financial district. The bomb, set off by the Irish Republican Army, killed three people and injured 91. 1993 - South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani was assassinated. 1994 - NATO warplanes launched air strikes for the first time on Serb forces that were advancing on the Bosnian Muslim town of Gordazde. The area had been declared a U.N. safe area.

2009 - In Fiji, President Josefa Iloilo suspended the nation’s Constitution, dismissed all judges and constitutional appointees and assumed all governance in the country. 2015 - Australian cricket great, Richie Benaud, dies.