March 10

March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). There are 296 days remaining.

Events

• 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands – The Romans sinks the Carthaginian fleet; end of First Punic War.
• 1496 – Christopher Columbus leaves Hispaniola for Spain, ending his second visit to the Western Hemisphere.
• 1629 – Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, starting the Eleven Years Tyranny in which there was no parliament.
• 1804 – Louisiana Purchase: In St. Louis, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.
• 1814 – Napoleon I of France is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
• 1831 – The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria.
• 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican-American War.
• 1864 – Montana vigilantes hang Jack Slade
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."
• 1880 – Members of the Salvation Army land in the United States and begin operations.
• 1891 – Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka Kansas, patents the strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
• 1893 – Côte d'Ivoire becomes a French colony.
• 1902 – Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.
• 1902 – A United States court of appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera.
• 1902 – Tochangri, Turkey, is completely destroyed by an earthquake.
• 1926 – The first Book-of-the-Month-Club selection is produced
• 1933 – An earthquake in Long Beach, California kills 120 people.
• 1945 – The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting firestorm kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
• 1951 – Henri Queuille becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba
• 1964 – The Ford Mustang is first produced by the Ford Motor Company.
• 1966 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg.
• 1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. Ray would later retract his guilty plea.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: Capt. Ernest Medina is charged with My Lai war crimes
• 1975 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thout, South Vietnam, on their way to capturing Saigon.
• 1977 – Rings of Uranus: Astronomers discover rings around Uranus.
• 1982 – The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports because of their support of terrorist groups.
• 1982 – Syzygy: all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun.
• 1987 – Reproductive rights: The Holy See condemns the practice of surrogate motherhood, along with test-tube babies and artificial insemination.
• 1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
• 1991 – Gulf War: Operation Phase Echo – 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
• 1996 – The "Summit of Peacemakers" takes place in Egypt.
• 1998 – American troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first vaccinations against anthrax.
• 2000 – The NASDAQ stock market index peaks at 5048.62, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
• 2004 – Six Flags sells 8 of its theme parks to private investors.
• 2005 – In Edmonton, Alberta, the largest memorial (of its kind) in Canadian history was held for four RCMP constables who were gunned down March 3, 2005.

Births

• 1452 – Ferdinand II of Aragon (d. 1516)
• 1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1606 – Edmund Waller, English poet, (d. 1687)
• 1709 – Georg Steller, German naturalist, (d. 1746)
• 1772 – Friedrich von Schlegel, German aesthetician, poet, and publicist, (d. 1829)
• 1776 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Queen of Prussia, (d. 1810)
• 1788 – Joseph von Eichendorff, German writer (d. 1857)
• 1842 – Mykola Lysenko, composer
• 1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist (d. 1908)
• 1845 – Alexander III of Russia, Russian tsar
• 1847 – Kate Sheppard, leader of New Zealand female suffrage movement
• 1848 – Albert Fraenkel, physician, (d. 1916)
• 1880 – Broncho Billy Anderson, actor, (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, actor, (d. 1966)
• 1891 – Sam Jaffe, actor, (d. 1984)
• 1892 – Arthur Honegger, composer, (d. 1955)
• 1892  – Gregory La Cava, director, producer, writer, (d. 1952)
• 1903 – Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician, (d. 1931)
• 1903  – Clare Boothe Luce, publisher, writer, (d. 1987)
• 1905 – Richard Haydn, British actor (d. 1985)
• 1915 – Harry Bertoia, Italian artist and designer, (d. 1978)
• 1918 – Heywood Hale Broun, sports journalist, commentator, (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Marion Hutton, American singer (d. 1987)
• 1927 – Paul Wunderlich, painter, graphic artist, sculptor
• 1927  – Jupp Derwall, football coach
• 1928 – James Earl Ray, assassin, (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Ralph Emery, television host
• 1936 – Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA
• 1940 – Dean Torrence, musician ("Jan and Dean")
• 1940  – Chuck Norris, actor, martial arts practitioner
• 1940 – David Rabe, American playwright
• 1941 – Joe Viterelli, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1946 – Jim Valvano, American basketball coach (d. 1993)
• 1947 – Kim Campbell, nineteenth Prime Minister of Canada and first woman to hold that office
• 1947 – Bob Greene, American journalist
• 1952 – Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician
• 1957 – Marlon Jackson, singer
• 1957 – Osama bin Laden
• 1958 – Sharon Stone, actress
• 1961 – Laurel Clark, physician, astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1963 – Jeff Ament, bass player of Pearl Jam, musician.
• 1963 – Neneh Cherry, musician
• 1964 – Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
• 1965 – Rod Woodson, American football player
• 1966 – Edie Brickell, singer
• 1966 – Stephen Mailer, American actor
• 1971 – Ugonna Wachuku, poet, creative writer, author
• 1972 – Matt Kenseth, race car driver, 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion
• 1977 – Bree Turner, American actress
• 1983 – Carrie Underwood, American Idol Contestant
• 1992 – Emily Osment, American actress

Deaths

• 1832 – Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (b. 1752)
• 1895 – Charles Frederick Worth, couturier
• 1913 – Harriet Tubman, American anti-slavery activist (b. 1820)
• 1940 – Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer
• 1948 – Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900)
• 1948  – Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1886)
• 1973 – Eugene 'Bull' Connor, American segregationist
• 1980 – Herman Tarnower, American diet doctor
• 1984 – June Marlowe, American actress
• 1985 – Konstantin Chernenko, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1911)
• 1986 – Ray Milland, British actor (b. 1907)
• 1988 – Andy Gibb, singer (b. 1958)
• 1994 – Abdelkader Alloula, playwright (assassinated)
• 1996 – Ross Hunter, producer
• 1997 – La Vern Baker, singer
• 1998 – Lloyd Bridges, actor, (b. 1913)
• 2000 – Barbara Cooney, children's book author and illustrator
• 2000 – Nim Chimpsky, signing chimpanzee
• 2003 – Barry Sheene, motorbike racer, (b. 1950)
• 2004 – Dave Blood, American musician
• 2005 – Danny Joe Brown, singer (Molly Hatchet) (b. 1951)
• 2005 – Dave Allen, Irish comedian

Holidays and observances

• Girl Scout Sunday

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 9 – March 11 – February 11 – April 11 — listing of all days