Today in History

Today is Wednesday, April 10, the 101st day of 2024. There are 265 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 10, 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, bound for New York on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

On this date:

In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.

In 1932, German President Paul Von Hindenburg was reelected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.

In 1947, Team President Branch Rickey called Jackie Robinson up to the Brooklyn Dodgers from their minor league affiliate the Montreal Royals. (Less than a week later, Robinson would become the first Black player in Major League Baseball when he took the field for the Dodgers.)

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 1974, Golda Meir announced her resignation as prime minister of Israel.

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 (lehk kah-CHIN’-skee), 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.

In 2012, Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination.

In 2017, Justice Neil Gorsuch took his place as the newest addition on the bench of the Supreme Court, restoring a narrow conservative majority.

In 2018, during five hours of questioning from a U.S. Senate panel, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg batted away accusations that he had failed to protect the personal information of millions of Americans from Russians intent on upsetting the U.S. election, though he conceded that Facebook needed to work harder to make sure the tools it creates are used in “good and healthy” ways.

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.

In 2021, speaking to Republican donors at his new home inside his Mar-a-Lago resort, former President Donald Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a “stone-cold loser” and mocked McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who had been Trump’s transportation secretary.

In 2023, a Louisville bank employee shot and killed five co-workers, including a close friend of the governor, and wounded eight others in a livestreamed workplace shooting at a bank branch; the shooter, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, was fatally shot by police.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Steven Seagal is 72. Folk-pop singer Terre Roche (The Roches) is 71. Actor Peter MacNicol is 70. Actor Olivia Brown is 67. Singer-producer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is 66. Rock singer-musician Brian Setzer is 65. Rock singer Katrina Leskanich (les-KAH’-nich) is 64. Olympic gold medal speedskater Cathy Turner is 62. Rock musician Tim “Herb” Alexander is 59. R&B singer Kenny Lattimore is 57. Actor-comedian Orlando Jones is 56. Rock musician Mike Mushok (Staind) is 55. Rapper Q-Tip (AKA Kamaal) is 54. Actor David Harbour is 49. Blues singer Shemekia Copeland is 45. Actor Laura Bell Bundy is 43. Actor Harry Hadden-Paton is 43. Actor Chyler Leigh is 42. Pop musician Andrew Dost (fun.) is 41. Actor Ryan Merriman is 41. Singer Mandy Moore is 40. Actor Barkhad Abdi (BAHRK’-hahd AHB’-dee) is 39. Actor Shay Mitchell is 37. Actor Haley Joel Osment is 36. Actor Molly Bernard (TV: “Younger”) is 36. Country singer Maren Morris is 34. Actor Alex Pettyfer is 34. Actor-singer AJ (AKA Amanda) Michalka (mish-AL’-kah) is 33. Actor Daisy Ridley is 32. Singer-actor Sofia Carson is 31. Actor Audrey Whitby is 28. Actor Ruby Jerins is 26.