1710
Apr 10, Britain’s Queen Anne gave her assent to an act “for the encouragement of learning." It upheld Parliament’s 1709 copyright act, which set a limit of 21 years for books already in print and 14 years for new ones with an additional 14 years if the author was still alive when the first term ran out.

1895
Apr 10, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Blanche Dumont (21), a student living in the Mission District, had disappeared a week earlier. She had last been seen with Theodore Durrant (23), a medical student who lived on Fair Oaks St.

1965
Apr 10, Linda Darnell (41), actress, died from burns received in a fire.

1974
Apr 10, Golda Meir announced her resignation as prime minister of Israel. Yitzhak Rabin replaced Golda Meir.

1984
Apr 10, In San Francisco Mei “Linda" Leung (9) was kidnapped, raped and killed. Her body was found hanging over a pipe in the baxement of her apartment building at 765 O’Farrell St. In 2009 DNA evidence tied Richard Ramirez (b.1960), known as the “Night Stalker," to her murder. The evidence also indicated a possible 2nd attacker.

1986
Apr 10, Benazir Bhutto (33), daughter of former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, returned to Pakistan.

2004
Apr 10, A stray bullet killed an 11-year old Palestinian girl in her kitchen when Israeli troops fired on her neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip.

2004
Apr 10, Rania al-Baz, a popular Saudi TV host, was severely beaten by her husband. She suffered 13 facial fractures that required 12 operations. She allowed photos to be broadcast and opened discussions of ongoing violence against women in Saudi Arabia.

2007
Apr 10, Dakota Staton (b.1930), jazz singer, died in NYC. She was well known for her 1957 album “The Late, Late Show."

2007
Apr 10, The European Court of Human Rights ruled that a British woman left infertile after being treated for ovarian cancer has no right to frozen embryos against the wishes of her former fiance, who provided the sperm.

2009
Apr 10, In Michigan a student fatally shot a female classmate before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide that prompted a lockdown at Dearborn’s Henry Ford Community College, west of Detroit. The bodies of Asia McGowan (20) of Ecorse, and Anthony Powell (28) of Detroit, were discovered inside a classroom.

2010
Apr 10, Dixie Carter (b.1939), "Designing Women" (1986-1993) star, died. Her Southern charm and natural beauty had won her a host of television roles. She appeared in TV soap operas in the 1970s, but did not become a national star until her recurring roles on "Diff'rent Strokes" and another series, "Filthy Rich," in the 1980s. She married actor Hal Holbrook in 1984. The two had met four years earlier while making the TV movie "The Killing of Randy Webster," and although attracted to one another, each had suffered two failed marriages and were wary at first.

2014
Apr 10, Kathleen Sebelius (65), US Health and Human Services Secretary, resigned. The next day Pres. Obama nominated Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office of Budget and Management, to succeed her.

2014
Apr 10, British author Sue Townsend (68) died. Her books about awkward teenage diarist Adrian Mole sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.