1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the U.S. Senate, ending the Mexican-American War.
1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
1912 – The luxury liner Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage. It stopped first in Cherbourg, France, and then Queenstown, Ireland, the next day to pick up additional passengers before heading out into the open sea.
1947 – Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals, paving the way for Robinson to become the first black to play in the major leagues.
1992 – Financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed. (The convictions were later overturned).
