This Day in History: April 10

On this day, April 10 ...

1947: Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey purchases the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals.

Also on this day:

• 1790: President George Washington signs the first United States Patent Act.
• 1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is incorporated.

• 1912: The British liner RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
• 1925: The F. Scott Fitzgerald novel “The Great Gatsby” is first published by Scribner’s of New York.
• 1957: “12 Angry Men,” starring Henry Fonda, premieres in Los Angeles.
• 1967: At the Academy Awards, “A Man for All Seasons” wins best picture of 1966; its star, Paul Scofield, is named best actor; Elizabeth Taylor receives best actress for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• 1974: Golda Meir tells party leaders she is resigning as prime minister of Israel.
• 1981: Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is declared the winner of a by-election to the British Parliament.
• 1992: Comedian Sam Kinison is killed in a car crash outside Needles, Calif., at age 38.
• 1998: The Northern Ireland peace talks conclude as negotiators reach a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.