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

Events

up to 19th century

• 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.
• 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican-American War.
• 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.
• 1893 - Côte d'Ivoire becomes a French colony.

20th century

• 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 (see Edison v. American Mutoscope)
• 1933 - Earthquake in Long Beach, California kills 120 people.
• 1945 - World War II: In Japan, American B-29 bombers fire-bomb Tokyo killing 100,000.
• 1951 - Henri Queuille becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1952 - Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba
• 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.
• 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 - 18 months after seizing power in a coup, Prosper Avril is ousted in Haiti.
• 1991 - Gulf War: Operation Phase Echo - 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf.
• 1998 - American troops stationed in the Persian Gulf begin to receive the first vaccinations against anthrax.

21st century

• 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.

Births

up to 19th century

• 1503 - Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1606 - Edmund Waller, English poet, (d. 1687)
• 1709 - Georg Steller, German naturalist, (d. 1746)
• 1772 - Friedrich von Schlegel, aesthetician, poet, and publicist, (d. 1829)
• 1776 - Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Queen of Prussia, (d. 1810)
• 1788 - Joseph von Eichendorff, lyricist and narrator, (d. 1857)
• 1842 - Mykola Lysenko, composer
• 1844 - Pablo de Sarasate, violinist, (d. 1908)
• 1845 - Alexander III of Russia, Russian tsar.
• 1847 - Kate Sheppard, leader of New Zealand female suffrage movenent, New Zealand is the first country to achieve female suffrage
• 1848 - Albert Fraenkel, physician, (d. 1916)
• 1880 - Bronco 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)

20th century

• 1903 - Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician, (d. 1931)
• 1903 - Clare Boothe Luce, publisher, writer, (d. 1987)
• 1915 - Harry Bertoia, Italian artist and designer, (d. 1978)
• 1918 - Heywood Hale Broun, sports journalist, commentator, (d. 2001)
• 1927 - Paul Wunderlich, painter, graphic artist, sculptor
• 1927 - Jupp Derwall, football coach
• 1928 - James Earl Ray, assassin, (d. 1998)
• 1940 - Dean Torrence, musician ("Jan and Dean")
• 1940 - Chuck Norris, actor, martial arts practitioner
• 1947 - Kim Campbell, nineteenth Prime Minister of Canada and first woman to hold that office
• 1957 - Marlon Jackson, singer
• 1957 - Usama bin Laden
• 1958 - Sharon Stone, actress
• 1963 - Jeff Ament, bass player of pearl jam, musician.
• 1963 - Neneh Cherry, musician
• 1964 - Edward, Earl of Wessex
• 1965 - Rod Woodson, American football player
• 1966 - Edie Brickell, singer
• 1971 - Ugonna Wachuku, poet, creative writer, author
• 1972 - Matt Kenseth, race car driver, 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion

Deaths

• 1895 - Charles Frederick Worth, couturier
• 1913 - Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad conductor, anti-slavery activist, (b. 1820)
• 1940 - Mikhaïl Boulgakov, Russian writer
• 1948 - Zelda Fitzgerald (Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald), (b. 1900)
• 1948 - Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, (b. 1886)
• 1973 - Eugene 'Bull' Connor, segregationist
• 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)
• 1996 - Ross Hunter, producer
• 1997 - La Vern Baker, singer
• 1998 - Lloyd Bridges, actor, (b. 1913)
• 2003 - Barry Sheene, motorbike racer, (b. 1950)
• 2004 - Dave Blood, U.S. musician

Holidays and observances

• Girl Scout Sunday