March 10

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 - Princess 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)
• 1749 - Lorenzo da Ponte, Italian librettist
• 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 - Tsar Alexander III of Russia
• 1847 - Kate Sheppard, New Zealand suffragist
• 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, French-born Swiss composer (d. 1955)
• 1892 - Gregory La Cava, director, producer, and writer (d. 1952)
• 1903 - Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician (d. 1931)
• 1903 - Clare Boothe Luce, American publisher and 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 and commentator (d. 2001)
• 1919 - Marion Hutton, American singer (d. 1987)
• 1927 - Paul Wunderlich, painter, graphic artist, and sculptor
• 1927 - Jupp Derwall, football coach
• 1928 - James Earl Ray, American 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 and martial artist
• 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
• 1947 - Bob Greene, American journalist
• 1952 - Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe politician
• 1956 - Sasimohan, journalist
• 1957 - Marlon Jackson, singer
• 1957 - Osama bin Laden, Saudi-born terrorist
• 1958 - Sharon Stone, actress
• 1961 - Laurel Clark, physician and astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1963 - Jeff Ament, musician (Pearl Jam)
• 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, writer
• 1972 - Matt Kenseth, race car driver
• 1977 - Bree Turner, American actress
• 1983 - Carrie Underwood, singer, 4th American Idol Winner
• 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
• Today in History: March 10

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