March 10 - Events

Events

• 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands – The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
• 1606 – Susenyos defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, which makes him Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1735 – An agreement between Nadir Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja and Russian troops are withdrawn from Baku.
• 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.
• 1804 – Louisiana Purchase: In St. Louis, Missouri, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.
• 1814 – Napoleon I of France is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
• 1830 – The KNIL also known as the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
• 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.
• 1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Segou, destroying the Bambara Empire of Mali.
• 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."
• 1891 – Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
• 1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
• 1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in Northern France.
• 1917 – Batangas is formally founded as one of the Philippines's earliest encomiendas.
• 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 – An earthquake in Long Beach, California kills 115 people and causes an estimated $40 million dollars in damage.
• 1945 – The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting firestorm kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
• 1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba and appoints himself as the "provisional president".
• 1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.
• 1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyen Cao Ky sacked rival General Nguyen Chanh 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 retracts his guilty plea.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged with My Lai war crimes.
• 1975 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, on their way to capturing Saigon.
• 1977 – Rings of Uranus: Astronomers discover rings around Uranus.
• 1980 – Madeira School headmistress Jean Harris shoots and kills Scarsdale diet doctor Herman Tarnower
• 1980 – Formation of the Irish Army Ranger Wing
• 1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
• 2000 – The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
• 2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.