On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
On this date:
In 1790, President George Washington signed into law the first United States Patent Act. Merchant Robert Gray docked at Boston Harbor, becoming the first American to circumnavigate the globe. He sailed from Boston in September 1787.
In 1849, William Hunt of New York patented the safety pin.
In 1864, Austrian Archduke Maximilian became emperor of Mexico.
In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
In 1916, the Professional Golfers Association of America was founded.
In 1919, Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, was ambushed and killed in Morelos by government forces.
In 1925, the novel "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was first published, by Scribner's of New York.
In 1932, German president Paul Von Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.
In 1942, Japanese soldiers herded U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war on Bataan in the Philippines and forced them to march to another camp. During the six-day "Death March," more than 5,200 Americans and many more Filipinos died.
In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals, paving the way for Robinson to become the first black player in the major leagues.
In 1959, the future emperor of Japan, Crown Prince Akihito, married a commoner, Michiko Shoda.
In 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher sank during deep-diving tests off Cape Cod, Mass., in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.
In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team arrived in China, the first U.S. group to penetrate the so-called Bamboo Curtain since the 1950s.
In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.
In 1978, Arkady Shevchenko, a high-ranking Soviet citizen employed by the United Nations, sought political asylum in the United States.
In 1981, imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.
In 1991, an Italian ferry headed to Sardinia collided with an oil tanker near Leghorn, Italy, killing 151 passengers and crew. The tanker crew survived.
In 1992, financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed. (The convictions were later overturned). Also in 1992, in a formal Gulf War report, the Pentagon said allied bombers destroyed more Iraqi electrical generating facilities than necessary, causing undue postwar hardship on civilians.
In 1994, two U.S aircraft bombed a Serbian command post in Bosnia. It was the first NATO air attack against ground forces.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique that opponents call partial-birth abortion.
In 1997, a U.S. judge in Washington ruled the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996 was unconstitutional.
In 1998, the Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators reached a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks. Also in 1998, the anti-impotence drug Viagra went on the market and became one of the best-selling new medications of all time.
In 1999, bad weather hampered NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, but the allies warned Slobodan Milosevic the lull wouldn't last. The Pentagon, meanwhile, announced that 82 U.S. planes would join the force conducting airstrikes over Yugoslavia. The Miami Heat humiliated the Chicago Bulls, 82-49, holding the Bulls to the lowest point total since the introduction of the shot clock.
In 2000, The Washington Post won three Pulitzer Prizes, including the public service award for the second year in a row; The Wall Street Journal took two honors, and The Associated Press won for investigative reporting on the killing of Korean civilians by U.S. troops at the start of the Korean War. South Korea and North Korea announced a June date for their first summit since the peninsula was divided in 1945. The Nasdaq plunged 258 points in its second-biggest drop, starting the dramatic fall-off in the value of technology stocks.
In 2001, the Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.
In 2004, the White House declassified and released a document sent to President George W. Bush before the Sept. 11 attacks which cited recent intelligence of a possible al-Qaida plot to strike inside the United States. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially renamed Squaw Peak in Phoenix Piestewa Peak, in honor of Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, who was killed in Iraq in 2003. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, suspected of killing a pregnant colleague, was arrested in Tacambaro, Mexico; Laurean is charged with murder in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach in North Carolina, but is fighting extradition to the U.S.
In 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in Texas to meet with President George W. Bush. About 3,000 Israeli police officers were deployed to Jerusalem's Old City to prevent threatened protests by Jewish militants at the Temple Mount, angry at Israel's plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza and the West Bank. Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters with a spectacular finish of birdies and bogeys.
In 2006, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was narrowly beaten in his bid for another term by former premier Romano Prodi.
In 2007, a woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits in Muqdadiyah, killing 16. Three former Birmingham, Ala., college students were sentenced to federal prison for setting fire to nine rural southern U.S. churches and ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution. Also in 2007, four Serbian paramilitary officers were found guilty of taking part in the Srebrenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims 13 years previously. Thousands of men and boys were reported slaughtered in a few days.
In 2008, a Muslim terrorist ring plot to kidnap athletes and visitors during the Summer Olympics in Beijing has been uncovered, Chinese officials said. Thirty-five suspects were arrested. Also in 2008, international observers hailed Nepal's elections as a generally peaceful success despite some violence. Nepal voters decided to end their monarchy and adopt a republic form of government with former Maoist terrorists playing a key role.
In 2009, police in Tracy, Calif. arrested Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby in connection with the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body had been found in a suitcase. French Navy commandos stormed a sailboat held by pirates off the Somali coast, freeing four hostages; however, one hostage was killed in the operation. An American captain held by pirates off Somalia as a hostage while his crew escaped remained in captivity after unsuccessfully trying to swim away from his kidnappers. Meanwhile, two U.S. naval vessels were nearby for possible intervention to save Capt. Richard Phillips, whose merchant ship the Maersk Alabama, carrying aid supplies to Kenya, had been attacked by marauders.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Harry Morgan is 95. Actor Max von Sydow is 81. Actress Liz Sheridan is 81. Actor Omar Sharif is 78. Sportscaster John Madden is 74. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bobbie Smith (The Spinners) is 74. Sportscaster Don Meredith is 72. Reggae artist Bunny Wailer is 63. Actor Steven Seagal is 59. Folk-pop singer Terre Roche (The Roches) is 57. Actor Peter MacNicol is 56. Rock musician Steven Gustafson (10,000 Maniacs) is 53. Singer-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is 52. Rock singer-musician Brian Setzer is 51. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is 50. Rock singer Katrina Leskanich is 50. Actor Jeb Adams is 49. Olympic gold medal speedskater Cathy Turner is 48. Rock musician Tim "Herb" Alexander is 45. Actor-comedian Orlando Jones is 42. Rock musician Mike Mushok (Staind) is 41. Singer Kenny Lattimore is 40. Rapper Q-Tip (AKA Kamaal) is 40. Blues singer Shemekia Copeland is 31. Actress Laura Bell Bundy is 29. Actress Chyler Leigh is 28. Actor Ryan Merriman is 27. Singer Mandy Moore is 26.
Also Born On This Date, But Not Very Lively: Signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence Button Gwinnett (1735); U.S. Navy Adm. Matthew Perry, who concluded the first treaty between Japan and the United States (1794); soldier, diplomat and novelist Lewis Wallace, author of "Ben-Hur" (1827); William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army (1829); journalist and publisher Joseph Pulitzer (1847); Frances Perkins, the first female U.S. Cabinet member, Secretary of Labor) (1882); journalist and diplomat Clare Boothe Luce (1903); actor Chuck Connors (1921): & writer David Halberstam (1934).
10 April In Entertainment
In 1953, the first feature-length 3D horror movie in color, "House of Wax," premiered in New York. Vincent Price starred.
In 1956, singer Nat "King" Cole was beaten up by a group of racial segregationists in Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1957, Ricky Nelson sang for the first time on "The Adventures of Ozzy and Harriet." He performed "I'm Walkin'."
In 1962, former Beatles member Stu Sutcliffe died of a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg, Germany. He was 22.
In 1967, "A Man for All Seasons" won most of the major awards at the Oscars. Elizabeth Taylor won the best actress award for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
In 1968, "In The Heat Of The Night" was named best picture at the Academy Awards. Also in 1968, drummer Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead.
In 1972, "The French Connection" won the best picture and best director at the Academy Awards. Gene Hackman was named best actor for his role in that film. The best original song award went to the "Theme From 'Shaft.'"
In 1989, Alabama was named artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music.
In 1991, Natalie Schafer, the actress who played Mrs. Howell on "Gilligan's Island," died of cancer. She was 90.
In 1992, comedian Sam Kinison was killed when a pickup truck hit his car on a California highway. The 17-year-old driver was arrested.
In 1994, Charles Kuralt hosted his last episode of "Sunday Morning" on CBS. Charles Osgood was his replacement.
In 2000, actor Larry Linville, one of the stars of the situation comedy "M★A★S★H," died in New York at age 60.
In 2001, rapper Eminem was given two years probation on a weapons charge. He was arrested the previous June for allegedly using a gun to hit a man kissing his wife. Also in 2001, Kevin Olmstead of Ann Arbor, Michigan, won $2,180,000 on "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire." It's the largest prize ever given out on a TV game show.
Thought for Today: "What is more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for truth?" — Cicero, Roman orator, statesman and philosopher (106-43 B.C.)
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