Today In History
Today is Friday, March 10, the 69th day of 2023. There are 296 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On March 10, 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.)
ON THIS DATE
› 1496: Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain.
› 1785: Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.
› 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.
› 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.
› 1906: About 1,100 miners in northern France were killed by a coal-dust explosion.
› 1913: Former slave, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York; she was in her 90s.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Bluegrass/country singer-musician Norman Blake is 85. Actor Chuck Norris is 83. Playwright David Rabe is 83. Singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) is 83. TV personality/businesswoman Barbara Corcoran (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 74. Actor Aloma Wright is
73. Blues musician Ronnie Earl (Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters) is 70. Actor Shannon Tweed is 66. Pop/jazz singer Jeanie Bryson is
65. Actor Sharon Stone is 65. Actor Stephen Mailer is 57. Actor Philip Anthony-Rodriguez is 55. Actor Paget Brewster is
54. Actor Jon Hamm is 52. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 51. Actor Cristián de la Fuente is 49. Rock musician Jerry Horton (Papa Roach) is 48. Actor Jeff Branson is 46. Singer Robin Thicke is 46. Actor Edi Gathegi is 44. Actor Thomas Middleditch is
41. 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.