March 10Birthdays & History

On this day: March 10 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 241 BCFirst Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.Africa
2. 298Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.EuropeAfrica
3. 947The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.Asia
4. 1496After establishing the city of Santo Domingo, Christopher Columbus departs for Spain, leaving his brother in command.Europe
5. 1535Spaniard Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the fourth Bishop of Panama, discovers the Galápagos Islands by chance on his way to Peru.Latin America
6. 1607Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.Africa
7. 1629Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.Europe
8. 1661French "Sun King" Louis XIV begins his personal rule of France after the death of his premier, the Cardinal Mazarin.Europe
9. 1735An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.Europe
10. 1762French 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.Europe
11. 1814Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.Europe
12. 1830The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.Europe
13. 1831The French Foreign Legion is created by Louis Philippe, the King of France, from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France.Europe
14. 1848The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.North AmericaLatin America
15. 1861El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.Africa
16. 1873The 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.Europe
17. 1876The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.North America
18. 1891Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.North America
19. 1906The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.Europe
20. 1909By 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.AsiaEurope
21. 1922Mahatma 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.Asia
22. 1933The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area, leaving around 108 people dead.North America
23. 1944Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.Europe
24. 1945World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.North AmericaAsia
25. 1949Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") is convicted of treason.North America
26. 1952Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.Latin America
27. 1959Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.Asia
28. 1966Military 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.Asia
29. 1969In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.North America
30. 1970Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.AsiaMiddle EastNorth America
31. 1971John 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.Oceania
32. 19741974 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.Europe
33. 1975Vietnam 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.Asia
34. 1977Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.World
35. 19791979 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.Middle East
36. 1982Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at this time — Mercury to Pluto — align on the same side of the Sun.World
37. 1989Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28 Fellowship, crashes at Dryden Regional Airport in Dryden, Ontario, Canada, killing 24.North America
38. 1990In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted eighteen months after seizing power in a coup d'état in September 1988.Latin America
39. 19911991 Salvadoran legislative election: The Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.Latin America
40. 2000The Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.North America
41. 2006The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.World
42. 2017The 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.Asia
43. 2019Ethiopian 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.Africa
44. 20222022 Hungarian presidential election: The National Assembly of Hungary elects former minister for Family Affairs, Katalin Novák, as president of Hungary in a 137–51 vote, becoming the first female president in the country's history.Europe
45. 2023Silicon 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.North America
46. 20242024 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.Europe
47. 2026Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat recorded the second-highest scoring game in NBA history with 83 Points.North America

Source: Wikipedia "March 10" / CC BY-SA 4.0