March 10
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- 1735 - An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.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 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 take off, 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 137-51 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.
Births
Pre-1600
- 1452 - Ferdinand II, King of Castile and León
- 1503 - Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1536 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom
- 1596 - Princess Maria Elizabeth of Sweden, daughter of King Charles IX of Sweden
1601–1900
- 1604 - Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist
- 1628 - François Girardon, French sculptor
- 1628 - Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist
- 1653 - John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral
- 1656 - Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor
- 1709 - Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer
- 1749 - Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet
- 1769 - Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist
- 1772 - Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic
- 1777 - Louis Hersent, French painter
- 1787 - Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1787 - William Etty, English painter and academic
- 1788 - Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic
- 1788 - Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor
- 1789 - Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President
- 1795 - Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure
- 1810 - Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer
- 1843 - Evelyn Abbott, English classical scholar
- 1844 - Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer
- 1844 - Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter
- 1845 - Alexander III of Russia
- 1846 - Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln
- 1850 - Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer
- 1853 - Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1867 - Hector Guimard, French-American architect
- 1867 - Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement
- 1870 - David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician
- 1873 - Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author
- 1876 - Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor
- 1877 - Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president
- 1881 - Jessie Boswell, English painter
- 1888 - Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor
- 1890 - Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania
- 1892 - Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator
- 1892 - Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1896 - Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author
- 1900 - Violet Brown, Jamaican supercentenarian, oldest Jamaican ever
- 1900 - Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician
1901–present
- 1901 - Michel Seuphor, Belgian painter
- 1903 - Edward Bawden, English artist and illustrator
- 1903 - Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer
- 1903 - Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy
- 1915 - Harry Bertoia, Italian-American sculptor and furniture designer
- 1915 - Joža Horvat, Croatian writer
- 1917 - David Hare, American Surrealist artist, sculptor, photographer and painter
- 1918 - Günther Rall, German general and pilot
- 1919 - Leonor Oyarzún, Chilean socialite, First Lady of Chile from 1990 to 1994
- 1920 - Alfred Peet, Dutch-American businessman, founded Peet's Coffee & Tea
- 1923 - Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1924 - Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor
- 1925 - Bob Lanier, American lawyer, banker, and politician, Mayor of Houston
- 1926 - Marques Haynes, American basketball player
- 1927 - Claude Laydu, Belgian-French actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1928 - Sara Montiel, Spanish actress
- 1928 - James Earl Ray, American criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1929 - Sam Steiger, American journalist and politician
- 1930 - Sándor Iharos, Hungarian runner
- 1931 - Georges Dor, Canadian author, playwright, and composer
- 1932 - Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender, English politician
- 1933 - Ralph Emery, American country music disc jockey, radio and television host
- 1934 - Gergely Kulcsár, Hungarian javelin thrower
- 1935 - Polly Farmer, Australian footballer and coach
- 1936 - Sepp Blatter, Swiss businessman and eighth president of FIFA
- 1937 - María Kodama, Argentine writer and translator
- 1937 - Sam Hall, American diver, legislator, and mercenary
- 1938 - Norman Blake, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1938 - Ron Mix, American football player
- 1939 - Asghar Ali Engineer, Indian activist and author
- 1939 - Irina Press, Ukrainian-Russian hurdler and pentathlete
- 1940 - LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player
- 1940 - Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1940 - David Rabe, American playwright and screenwriter
- 1943 - Peter Berresford Ellis, English historian and author
- 1944 - Richard Gant, American actor
- 1945 - Katharine Houghton, American actress and playwright
- 1945 - Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician, Indian Minister of Railways
- 1946 - Curley Culp, American football player
- 1946 - Gérard Garouste, French contemporary artist
- 1946 - Jim Valvano, American basketball player and coach
- 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
- 1950 - Aloma Wright, American actress
- 1951 - Gloria Diaz, Filipino actress and beauty queen, Miss Universe 1969
- 1952 - Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
- 1953 - Paul Haggis, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 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
- 1957 - Shannon Tweed, Canadian model and actress
- 1958 - Garth Crooks, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1958 - Steve Howe, American baseball player
- 1958 - Sheikh Mohammad Illias, Bengali politician
- 1958 - Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
- 1961 - Laurel Clark, American captain, physician, and astronaut
- 1961 - Mitch Gaylord, American gymnast and actor
- 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 - Edie Brickell, American singer-songwriter
- 1966 - Mike Timlin, American baseball player
- 1968 - Alma Čardžić, Bosnian singer
- 1968 - Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach
- 1969 - Paget Brewster, American actress
- 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
- 1974 - Cristián de la Fuente, Chilean actor, model, producer, and television host
- 1976 - Barbara Schett, Austrian tennis player
- 1977 - Shannon Miller, American gymnast
- 1977 - Robin Thicke, American singer, songwriter, and record producer
- 1977 - Bree Turner, American actress
- 1978 - Benjamin Burnley, American musician
- 1978 - Camille, French singer-songwriter and actress
- 1979 - Edi Gathegi, Kenyan-American actor
- 1979 - Danny Pudi, American actor
- 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
- 1982 - Thomas Middleditch, Canadian-American comedian and actor
- 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 - Emeli Sandé, British singer-songwriter
- 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
- 1992 - Emily Osment, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 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
- 2008 - Francesco Camarda, Italian footballer