Today in history

April 10

1516
In what was the first ghetto*, Jews in Venice, Italy, were forced to live in a specific, restricted area of the city.

The word “ghetto” comes from the Venetian word “geto”, meaning foundry. Prior to becoming an exclusively Jewish neighborhood, the Venice ghetto was the site of two foundries.

1866
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is incorporated.

1872
Nebraskans planted more than a million trees in celebration of the first Arbor Day.
1935
Death of Jessie Wallace Hughan, Founder of War Resisteres International
1945
US troops liberate Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Germany
1956
Nat “King” Cole is attacked and severely beaten by a group of racial segregationists while singing onstage at the Municipal Hall in Birmingham, Alabama.
1972
The United States and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.
1972
Charlie Chaplin received an honorary Oscar for “the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century.” The British native’s political views had been criticized, as had been his failure to apply for U.S. citizenship. Pressed for back taxes and accused of supporting subversive causes during the McCarthy era, Chaplin left the United States in 1952. Informed that he would not be welcomed back, he retorted, “I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ were president.” He returned briefly from exile, however, to accept his award where he received the longest standing ovation in Academy Award history, lasting a full five minutes.

1981
United Nations adopted a convention assuring no civilians should be attacked with “napalm, mines or booby-traps.” The U.S. has refused to sign the treaty to this day.

This Life photograph of a naked child running down a street in Vietnam screaming in agony captures the effects of Napalm. Nick Ut’s photograph of Kim Phuk, taken in 1972, won the Pulitzer Prize ( Associated Press).