TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, April 10.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On April 10, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals.
ON THIS DATE
In 1912, the British liner
RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
In 1932, German President Paul Von Hindenburg was reelected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.
In 1963, the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank during deep-diving tests east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.
In 1971, a table tennis team from the United States arrived in China at the invitation of the communist government for a goodwill visit that came to be known as “ping-pong diplomacy.”
In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.
In 1981, imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands was declared the winner of a by-election to the British Parliament.
In 1992, comedian Sam Kinison was killed in a car crash outside Needles, California, at age 38.
In 1998, the Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators reached a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.
In 2005, Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters with a spectacular finish of birdies and bogeys.
In 2010, Polish President
Lech Kaczynski, 60, was killed in a plane crash in western Russia that also claimed the lives of his wife and top Polish political, military and church officials. “Designing Women” co-star Dixie Carter, 70, died in Houston.
In 2015, the Apple Watch made its debut.
In 2019, scientists released the first image ever made of a black hole, revealing a fiery, doughnut-shaped object in a galaxy 53 million light-years from earth.
Ten years ago: The House Homeland Security Committee examined
Muslim extremism in America during a hearing punctuated by tearful testimony and angry recriminations. (Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., accused U.S. Muslims of doing too little to help fight terror in America; Democrats warned of inflaming anti-Muslim sentiment.)
Five years ago: Donald Trump and his Republican rivals turned their presidential debate in Miami into a mostly respectful but still pointed discussion of Social Security, Islam, trade and more. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an official visit to the White House. Sir Ken Adam, the British film production designer behind the sets for some of the James Bond movies and “Dr. Strangelove,” died in London at age 95.
One year ago: The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus surged past 100,000. On Good Friday, Pope Francis presided over a torch-lit procession in an otherwise empty St. Peter’s Square, with nurses and doctors among those holding a cross.