TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, MARCH 10, the 69th day of 2023. There are 296 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:

On this date in 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tennessee, to assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln assigned Ulysses S. Grant, who had just received his commission as lieutenant-general, to the command of the Armies of the United States.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant, Thomas Watson, heard Bell say over his experimental telephone: “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you” from the next room of Bell’s Boston laboratory.

In 1913, former slave, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York; she was in her 90s.

In 2015, breaking her silence in the face of a growing controversy over her use of a private email address and server, Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded that she should have used government email as secretary of state, but insisted she had not violated any federal laws or Obama administration rules.

In 2019, a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the capital, Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Chuck Norris, playwright David Rabe and singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) are 83. Actor Jon Hamm is 52. Rapperproducer Timbaland is 51. Country singer Carrie Underwood is 40. Actor Olivia Wilde is 39. R&B singer Emeli Sandé is 36. Country singer Rachel Reinert is 34. Country musician Jared Hampton (LANCO) is 32. Actor Emily Osment is 31.