Events

Pre-1600

• 241 BC First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.

• 298 Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.

• 947 The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.

• 1496 After establishing the city of Santo Domingo, Christopher Columbus departs for Spain, leaving his brother in command.

• 1535 Spaniard Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the fourth Bishop of Panama, discovers the Galápagos Islands by chance on his way to Peru.

1601–1900

• 1607 Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.

• 1629 Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.

• 1661 French "Sun King" Louis XIV begins his personal rule of France after the death of his premier, the Cardinal Mazarin.

• 1735 An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.

• 1762 French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.

• 1814 Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.

• 1830 The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.

• 1831 The French Foreign Legion is created by Louis Philippe, the King of France, from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France.

• 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.

• 1861 El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.

• 1873 The first Azerbaijani play, The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran, prepared by Akhundov, is performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.

• 1876 The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.

• 1891 Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.

1901–present

• 1906 The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.

• 1909 By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.

• 1922 Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.

• 1933 The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area, leaving around 108 people dead.

• 1944 Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.

• 1945 World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.

• 1949 Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") is convicted of treason.

• 1952 Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.

• 1959 Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.

• 1966 Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacks rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.

• 1969 In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.

• 1970 Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.

• 1971 John Gorton resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia after a secret ballot vote of confidence, being replaced in both positions by William McMahon.

• 1974 1974 Belgian general election: Elections are held in Belgium for all 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, the Belgian Socialist Party taking the majority with 59.

• 1975 Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.

• 1977 Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.

• 1979 1979 International Women's Day protests in Tehran: Protestor involvement peaks with 15,000 Iranian women and girls performing a three‐hour-long sit‐in at the Courthouse of Tehran.

• 1982 Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at this time — Mercury to Pluto — align on the same side of the Sun.

• 1989 Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28 Fellowship, crashes at Dryden Regional Airport in Dryden, Ontario, Canada, killing 24.

• 1990 In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted eighteen months after seizing power in a coup d'état in September 1988.

• 1991 1991 Salvadoran legislative election: The Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.

• 2000 The Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.

• 2006 The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.

• 2017 The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.

• 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This and the prior Lion Air Flight 610 led to all 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.

• 2022 2022 Hungarian presidential election: The National Assembly of Hungary elects former minister for Family Affairs, Katalin Novák, as president of Hungary in a 13751 vote, becoming the first female president in the country's history.

• 2023 Silicon Valley Bank collapses due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations are taken over by the FDIC.

• 2024 2024 Portuguese legislative election: Elections are held in Portugal for all 230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic. The Partido Socialista loses its absolute majority to the Partido Social Democrata, winning 77 and 79 seats respectively.

• 2026 Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat recorded the second-highest scoring game in NBA history with 83 Points.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1452 Ferdinand II, King of Castile and León (died 1516)

• 1503 Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1564)

• 1536 Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (died 1572)

• 1596 Princess Maria Elizabeth of Sweden, daughter of King Charles IX of Sweden (died 1618)

1601–1900

• 1604 Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (died 1670)

• 1628 François Girardon, French sculptor (died 1715)

• 1628 Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (died 1694)

• 1653 John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (died 1702)

• 1656 Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (died 1732)

• 1709 Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (died 1746)

• 1748 John Playfair, Scottish minister and scientist (died 1819)

• 1749 Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (died 1838)

• 1769 Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (died 1840)

• 1772 Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (died 1829)

• 1777 Louis Hersent, French painter (died 1860)

• 1787 Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1862)

• 1787 William Etty, English painter and academic (died 1849)

• 1788 Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (died 1857)

• 1788 Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (died 1867)

• 1789 Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (died 1850)

• 1795 Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (died 1855)

• 1810 Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (died 1886)

• 1841 Ina Coolbrith, first poet laureate of California, writer, and librarian (died 1928)

• 1843 Evelyn Abbott, English classical scholar (died 1901)

• 1844 Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (died 1908)

• 1844 Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (died 1927)

• 1845 Alexander III of Russia (died 1894)

• 1846 Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (died 1850)

• 1850 Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (died 1906)

• 1853 Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1930)

• 1861 E. Pauline Johnson, Canadian First Nations poet and performer (died 1913)

• 1867 Hector Guimard, French-American architect (died 1942)

• 1867 Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (died 1940)

• 1870 David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (died 1938)

• 1873 Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (died 1934)

• 1876 Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (died 1973)

• 1877 Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930–1932) (died 1963)

• 1881 Jessie Boswell, English painter (died 1956)

• 1888 Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (died 1961)

• 1890 Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (died 1939)

• 1891 Sam Jaffe, American actor, teacher, musician and engineer (died 1984)

• 1892 Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (died 1955)

• 1892 Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1952)

• 1896 Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (died 1973)

• 1900 Violet Brown, Jamaican supercentenarian, oldest Jamaican ever (died 2017)

• 1900 Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician (died 1943)

1901–present

• 1901 Michel Seuphor, Belgian painter (died 1999)

• 1903 Edward Bawden, English artist and illustrator (died 1989)

• 1903 Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (died 1931)

• 1903 Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (died 1987)

• 1915 Harry Bertoia, Italian-American sculptor and furniture designer (died 1978)

• 1915 Joža Horvat, Croatian writer (died 2012)

• 1917 David Hare, American Surrealist artist, sculptor, photographer and painter (died 1992)

• 1918 Günther Rall, German general and pilot (died 2009)

• 1919 Leonor Oyarzún, Chilean socialite, First Lady of Chile from 1990 to 1994 (died 2022)

• 1920 Alfred Peet, Dutch-American businessman, founded Peet's Coffee & Tea (died 2007)

• 1920 Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns, American mandolinist and comic singer (died 1989)

• 1923 Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015)

• 1924 Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (died 2017)

• 1925 Bob Lanier, American lawyer, banker, and politician, Mayor of Houston (died 2014)

• 1926 Marques Haynes, American basketball player (died 2015)

• 1927 Claude Laydu, Belgian-French actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2011)

• 1928 Sara Montiel, Spanish actress (died 2013)

• 1928 James Earl Ray, American criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (died 1998)

• 1929 Sam Steiger, American journalist and politician (died 2012)

• 1930 Sándor Iharos, Hungarian runner (died 1996)

• 1931 Georges Dor, Canadian author, playwright, and composer (died 2001)

• 1932 Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender, English politician (died 2019)

• 1933 Ralph Emery, American country music disc jockey, radio and television host (died 2022)

• 1934 Gergely Kulcsár, Hungarian javelin thrower (died 2020)

• 1935 Polly Farmer, Australian footballer and coach (died 2019)

• 1936 Sepp Blatter, Swiss businessman and eighth president of FIFA

• 1937 María Kodama, Argentine writer and translator (died 2023)

• 1937 Sam Hall, American diver, legislator, and mercenary (died 2014)

• 1938 Norman Blake, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1938 Ron Mix, American football player

• 1939 Asghar Ali Engineer, Indian activist and author (died 2013)

• 1939 Irina Press, Ukrainian-Russian hurdler and pentathlete (died 2004)

• 1940 LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (died 2012)

• 1940 Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist (died 2026)

• 1940 David Rabe, American playwright and screenwriter

• 1941 George P. Smith, American biologist, Nobel laureate in Chemistry

• 1943 Peter Berresford Ellis, English historian and author

• 1945 Katharine Houghton, American actress and playwright

• 1945 Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician, Indian Minister of Railways (died 2001)

• 1946 Curley Culp, American football player (died 2021)

• 1946 Gérard Garouste, French contemporary artist

• 1946 Jim Valvano, American basketball player and coach (died 1993)

• 1947 Kim Campbell, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Canada

• 1947 Tom Scholz, American musician and songwriter

• 1948 Austin Carr, American basketball player

• 1951 Gloria Diaz, Filipino actress and beauty queen, Miss Universe 1969

• 1952 Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (died 2018)

• 1953 Paul Haggis, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1953 Ronnie Earl, American blues guitarist

• 1955 Toshio Suzuki, Japanese race car driver

• 1956 Robert Llewellyn, English actor, producer, and screenwriter

• 1956 Larry Myricks, American long jumper and sprinter

• 1956 Odile Buisson, French gynecologist, advocate for women's right to pleasure

• 1957 Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (died 2011)

• 1958 Garth Crooks, English footballer and sportscaster

• 1958 Steve Howe, American baseball player (died 2006)

• 1958 Sheikh Mohammad Illias, Bengali politician

• 1958 Sharon Stone, American actress and producer

• 1961 Laurel Clark, American captain, physician, and astronaut (died 2003)

• 1962 Jasmine Guy, American actress, singer, and director

• 1962 Seiko Matsuda, Japanese singer-songwriter

• 1963 Jeff Ament, American bass player and songwriter

• 1963 Rick Rubin, American record producer

• 1964 Greg Campbell, Australian cricketer

• 1964 Neneh Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter

• 1964 Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

• 1965 Jillian Richardson, Canadian sprinter

• 1965 Rod Woodson, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

• 1966 Mike Timlin, American baseball player

• 1968 Alma Čardžić, Bosnian singer

• 1968 Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach (died 2015)

• 1971 Jon Hamm, American actor and director

• 1972 Beth Buchanan, Australian actress

• 1972 Matt Kenseth, American NASCAR driver

• 1972 Timbaland, American rapper and producer

• 1973 Jason Croker, Australian rugby league player

• 1973 Liu Qiangdong, Chinese entrepreneur, billionaire, founder of JD.com

• 1973 Chris Sutton, English footballer

• 1973 Mauricio Taricco, Argentine footballer and manager

• 1976 Barbara Schett, Austrian tennis player

• 1977 Robin Thicke, American singer, songwriter, and record producer

• 1978 Benjamin Burnley, American musician

• 1978 Camille, French singer-songwriter and actress

• 1981 Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian footballer

• 1981 Steven Reid, English-Irish footballer

• 1982 Kwame Brown, American basketball player

• 1982 Dr Disrespect, American live streamer

• 1982 Logan Mankins, American football player

• 1983 Étienne Boulay, Canadian football player

• 1983 Janet Mock, American journalist, author, and activist

• 1983 Rafe Spall, English actor

• 1983 Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter

• 1984 Tim Brent, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1984 Ben May, English footballer

• 1984 Olivia Wilde, American actress and director

• 1986 Sergei Shirokov, Russian ice hockey player

• 1987 Martellus Bennett, American football player

• 1987 Greg Eastwood, New Zealand rugby league player

• 1987 Tuukka Rask, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1987 Māris Štrombergs, Latvian BMX racer

• 1988 Clarissa dos Santos, Brazilian basketball player

• 1988 Josh Hoffman, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player

• 1988 Ego Nwodim, American actress

• 1988 Quincy Pondexter, American basketball player and coach

• 1988 Ivan Rakitić, Croatian football player

• 1989 Simon Moser, Swiss ice hockey player

• 1989 Dayán Viciedo, Cuban baseball player

• 1990 Stefanie Vögele, Swiss tennis player

• 1991 Kenshi Yonezu, Japanese singer-songwriter and illustrator

• 1992 Neeskens Kebano, French-Congolese footballer

• 1993 Jack Butland, English footballer

• 1993 Aminata Namasia, Congolese politician

• 1994 Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, and wrestler

• 1994 Nikita Parris, English footballer

• 1995 Zach LaVine, American basketball player

• 1995 Sergey Mozgov, Russian ice dancer

• 1997 Belinda Bencic, Swiss tennis player

• 1998 Justin Herbert, American football player

• 1999 Cole Kmet, American football player

• 2000 Nick Bolton, American football player

• 2002 Keon Johnson, American basketball player

• 2004 Matt Poitras, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 483 Pope Simplicius

• 948 Liu Zhiyuan, Shatuo founder of the Later Han dynasty (born 895)

• 1291 Arghun, Mongol ruler in Persia (born c. 1258)

• 1315 Agnes Blannbekin, Austrian mystic

• 1513 John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English commander and politician, Lord High Constable of England (born 1442)

• 1528 Balthasar Hübmaier, German/Moravian Anabaptist leader

• 1572 William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester

• 1585 Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (born 1517)

1601–1900

• 1682 Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch painter and etcher (born 1628)

• 1724 Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (born 1641)

• 1776 Élie Catherine Fréron, French author and critic (born 1718)

• 1792 John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1713)

• 1826 John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (born 1758)

• 1832 Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1752)

• 1861 Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, playwright, and ethnographer (born 1814)

• 1872 Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (born 1805)

• 1894 Jacob Mahler, German-French saddler and anarchist (born 1832)

• 1895 Charles Frederick Worth, English-French fashion designer (born 1825)

• 1897 Savitribai Phule, Indian poet and activist (born 1831)

• 1898 Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, French nun and saint, founded the Religious of the Assumption (born 1817)

1901–present

• 1910 Karl Lueger, Austrian lawyer and politician Mayor of Vienna (born 1844)

• 1910 Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1824)

• 1913 Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (born c. 1820)

• 1923 Salvador Seguí, Catalan anarcho-syndicalist leader (born 1887)

• 1925 Myer Prinstein, Polish-American jumper (born 1878)

• 1937 Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (born 1884)

• 1940 Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (born 1891)

• 1942 Wilbur Scoville, American pharmacist and chemist (born 1865)

• 1948 Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, visual artist, and ballet dancer (born 1900)

• 1948 Jan Masaryk, Czech soldier and politician (born 1886)

• 1951 Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Japan (born 1872)

• 1966 Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888)

• 1966 Frank O'Connor, Irish short story writer, novelist, and poet (born 1903)

• 1969 Muriel Hannah, American artist active in Alaska.

• 1973 Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale (1960 – 1973), Governor of Kenya (1952 – 1959), High Commissioner for Southern Africa (1944 – 1951), Governor of Southern Rhodesia (1942 – 1944) (born 1903)

• 1973 Li Mi, Chinese lieutenant general and anti-communist, Taiwanese nationalist (born 1902)

• 1973 Richard Sharples, British politician, assassinated Governor of Bermuda (born 1916)

• 1977 E. Power Biggs, English-American organist and composer (born 1906)

• 1985 Konstantin Chernenko, Russian soldier and politician, Head of State of The Soviet Union (born 1911)

• 1985 Bob Nieman, American baseball player (born 1927)

• 1986 Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (born 1907)

• 1988 Andy Gibb, Australian singer-songwriter and actor (born 1958)

• 1992 Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and composer (born 1925)

• 1996 Ross Hunter, American film producer (born 1926)

• 1997 LaVern Baker, American singer and actress (born 1929)

• 1998 Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (born 1913)

• 1999 Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuadorian painter and sculptor (born 1919)

• 2005 Dave Allen, Irish-English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1936)

• 2007 Ernie Ladd, American football player and wrestler (born 1938)

• 2010 Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Egyptian scholar and academic (born 1928)

• 2010 Corey Haim, Canadian actor (born 1971)

• 2011 Bill Blackbeard, American author and illustrator (born 1926)

• 2012 Jean Giraud, French author and illustrator (born 1938)

• 2012 Frank Sherwood Rowland, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)

• 2013 Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland, British born Swedish Princess (born 1915)

• 2015 Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1952)

• 2016 Ken Adam, German-English production designer and art director (born 1921)

• 2016 Roberto Perfumo, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster (born 1942)

• 2016 Jovito Salonga, Filipino lawyer and politician, 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines (born 1920)

• 2016 Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (born 1928)

• 2022 John Elliott, English historian and academic (born 1930)

• 2025 Stanley R. Jaffe, American film producer and director (born 1940)

• 2025 Carl Lundström, Swedish businessman and activist (born 1960)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day

• Attala

• Harriet Tubman (Lutheran)

• John Ogilvie

• Macarius of Jerusalem

• Marie-Eugénie de Jésus

• Pope Simplicius

• Sojourner Truth (Lutheran)

• March 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Harriet Tubman Day (United States of America)

• Mario Day (International)

• Holocaust Remembrance Day (Bulgaria)

• National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)

• Székely Freedom Day (Romania)

• Tibetan Uprising Day (Tibetan independence movement)

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on March 10