Today:
1. 837: Halley’s Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometers/3.2 million miles).
2. 1710: The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged copyright law, is enacted in Great Britain.
3. 1815: The Mount Tambora volcano in Indonesia begins one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded history, which eventually kills tens of thousands of people and leads to the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816.
4. 1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
5. 1912: RMS Titanic, the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time, sets sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City.
6. 1925: The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is first published in New York City by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
7. 1970: Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles, effectively ending the group’s career as a performing band.
8. 1998: The Good Friday Agreement, an agreement between the British and Irish governments, as well as political parties in Northern Ireland, is signed, marking a major step towards peace and stability in the region.
9. 2019: Scientists reveal the first-ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, a global collaboration of telescopes.
10. 2020: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is admitted to the hospital due to persistent symptoms of COVID-19, ten days after testing positive for the virus.