On This Day: Titanic departs for fateful voyage

April 10 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1790, merchant Robert Gray docked at Boston Harbor, becoming the first American to circumnavigate the globe. He had sailed from Boston in September 1787.

In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded by Henry Bergh.

In 1912, the Titanic left port in Southampton, England, beginning its fateful voyage.

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 Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.

In 1942, the Bataan Death March, during which thousands of Filipinos and Americans died, began in the Philippines. Hoyt R. Haynie of El Dorado, Ark., who survived the 55-mile march, but saw many of his friends die, would later proclaim, “I’m an American, I’m proud to be an American and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all there is to be.”

In 1963, the U.S. nuclear submarine Thresher sank in the Atlantic Ocean 220 miles east of Boston. All 129 men on board were lost.

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, during his first visit to the United States in 20 years, movie pioneer and comic Charlie Chaplin accepted an honorary Academy Award for his “incalculable” contribution to the art of filmmaking.

In 1991, an Italian ferry headed to Sardinia collided with an oil tanker near Leghorn, Italy, killing 151 ferry passengers and crew members. The tanker crew survived.

In 1998, Britain and Ireland reached an agreement aimed at ending the long and bloody dispute over the future of Northern Ireland.

In 2006, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was narrowly beaten in his bid for another term by former premier Romano Prodi.

In 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, Maria, and top government officials were among scores killed when their plane crashed while trying to land in a thick fog in western Russia.

In 2013, thousands of people massed at the U.S. Capitol, urging Congress to overhaul the immigration system to allow 11 million undocumented immigrants to attain legal status.

In 2014, CBS said Stephen Colbert would replace David Letterman on The Late Show when the longtime host stepped down in 2015.

In 2016, a fireworks explosion at the Paravur Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur, India, left 106 dead and 400 injured.

In 2017, after mounting pressure, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley resigned amid impeachment hearings and possible prosecution linked to a sexual affair with a senior political adviser.