Today in History for March 10, 2013

Today is Sunday, March 10, the 69th day of 2013. There are 296 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On March 10, 1913, former slave, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, N.Y.; she was in her 90s.

On this date:

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

In 1863, Edward, the Prince of Wales (and future King Edward VII), married Princess Alexandra of Denmark at Windsor Castle.

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.”

In 1880, the Salvation Army arrived in the United States from England.

In 1893, Ivory Coast became a French colony.

In 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake centered off Long Beach, Calif., resulted in 120 deaths.

In 1949, Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as “Axis Sally,” was convicted in Washington, D.C., of treason. (She served 12 years in prison.)

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

In 1973, the Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon” was first released in the U.S. by Capitol Records (the British release came nearly two weeks later).

In 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, who was the Soviet Union’s leader for just 13 months, died at age 73.

In 1988, prior to the 50th anniversary of the Anschluss, Austrian President Kurt Waldheim apologized on his country’s behalf for atrocities committed by Austrian Nazis. Pop singer Andy Gibb died in Oxford, England, of heart inflammation five days after turning 30.

In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was shot to death outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic. (Shooter Michael Griffin is serving a life sentence.)

Ten years ago: Facing almost certain defeat, the United States and Britain delayed a vote in the U.N. Security Council to give Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to disarm. Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, told a London audience: “Just so you know . . . we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” (Maines later apologized for the phrasing of her remark.)

Five years ago: A suicide bomber killed five U.S. soldiers as they chatted with shop owners while on a foot patrol in central Baghdad. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized after allegations surfaced that he had paid thousands of dollars for a high-end call girl; he did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation. Democrat Barack Obama ridiculed the idea of being Hillary Rodham Clinton’s running mate, saying in Columbus, Miss., that voters had to choose between the two for the top spot on the fall ticket.

One year ago: Rick Santorum won the Kansas caucuses in a rout and Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney countered in Wyoming. Israel pounded Gaza for a second day, trading airstrikes and rocket fire with Palestinian militants, killing 15 of them. F. Sherwood Rowland, 84, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the Earth’s ozone layer, died in Corona del Mar.

Today’s birthdays: Talk show host Ralph Emery is 80. Bluegrass/country singer-musician Norman Blake is 75. Actor Chuck Norris is 73. Playwright David Rabe is 73. Singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) is 73. Actor Richard Gant is 69. Actress Katharine Houghton is 68. Rock musician Tom Scholz (Boston) is 66. Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell is 66. Actress Aloma Wright is 63. Producer-director-writer Paul Haggis is 60. Alt-country/rock musician Gary Louris is 58. Actress Shannon Tweed is 56. Pop/jazz singer Jeanie Bryson is 55. Actress Sharon Stone is 55. Rock musician Gail Greenwood is 53. Magician Lance Burton is 53. Actress Jasmine Guy is 51. Rock musician Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) is 50. Music producer Rick Rubin is 50. Britain’s Prince Edward is 49. Actor Stephen Mailer is 47. Actress Paget Brewster is 44. Actor Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) is 42. Country singer Daryle Singletary is 42. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 41. Actor Cristian de la Fuente is 39. Rock musician Jerry Horton (Papa Roach) is 38. Actor Jeff Branson is 36. Singer Robin Thicke is 36. Actress Bree Turner is 36. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller is 36. Contemporary Christian singer Michael Barnes (Red) is 34. Actor Edi Gathegi is 34. Rock musician Matt Asti (MGMT) is 33. Country singer Carrie Underwood is 30. Actress Olivia Wilde is 29. Rhythm-and-blues singer Emeli Sande is 26. Country singer Rachel Reinert is 24. Actress Emily Osment is 21.

Thought for today: “There is no tyranny so despotic as that of public opinion among a free people.” — Donn Piatt, American journalist (1819-1891).