On this date:
In 1847, American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer was born in Mako, Hungary.
In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
In 1912, the luxury liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
In 1932, German president Paul Von Hindenburg was re-elected, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.
In 1953, the three-dimensional horror movie "House of Wax," produced by Warner Brothers and starring Vincent Price, premiered in New York.
In 1959, Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a commoner, Michiko Shoda.
In 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine USS "Thresher" failed to surface off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.
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.
Ten years ago: Three European hostages -- a French woman, a Belgian man and their two-year-old daughter, who was born in captivity -- were released in Lebanon by the Abu Nidal Palestinian guerrilla group following an appeal by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Five years ago: Senator Bob Dole launched his third bid for the White House in Topeka, Kansas.
One year ago: Bad weather hampered NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, but the allies warned Slobodan Milosevic (sloh-BOH'-dahn mee-LOH'-shuh-vich) 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-to-49, holding the Bulls to the lowest point total since the introduction of the shot clock.
"Take from me the hope that I can change the future, and you will send me mad."
-- Israel Zangwill, English dramatist (1864-1926).