On This Day in History - March 10th - Almanac

Today is Monday, March 10, the 69th day of 2014 with 296 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. The evening stars are Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Italian scientist Marcello Malpighi in 1628; actor Barry Fitzgerald in 1888; French composer Arthur Honegger in 1892; poet Margaret Fishback in 1900; jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke in 1903; James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1928; playwright David Rabe and actor Chuck Norris, both in 1940 (age 74); college basketball Coach Jim Valvano in 1946; Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, and journalist Bob Greene, both in 1947 (age 67); al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 1957; actors Sharon Stone in 1958 (age 56) and Jasmine Guy in 1964 (age 50); Olympic gold medal gymnasts Mitch Gaylord in 1961 (age 53) and Shannon Miller in 1977 (age 37); Britain's Prince Edward in 1964 (age 50); singer Edie Brickell in 1966 (age 48); actor Jon Hamm and rapper Timbaland (born Timothy Zachery Mosley), both in 1971 (age 43); singers Robin Thicke in 1977 (age 37) and Carrie Underwood in 1983 (age 31); and actor Olivia Wilde in 1984 (age 30).

On this date in history:

In 515 B.C., the rebuilding of the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem was completed.

In 1862, the U.S. Treasury issued "legal tender notes" in denominations from $5 to $1,000, the first American paper money.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant in the next room: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."

In 1880, the Salvation Army of the United States was founded in New York City.

In 1945, 300 U.S. bombers dropped almost 2,000 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo, destroying large portions of the Japanese capital and killing an estimated 100,000 people.

In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. (Ray died in prison in 1998.)

In 1977, astronomers discovered rings around the planet Uranus.

In 1987, the Vatican condemned human artificial fertilization or generation of human life outside the womb and said all reproduction must result from the "act of conjugal love."

In 1998, Indonesian President Suharto was elected to a seventh term.

In 2003, Ivory Coast, torn by civil war for six months, got a new premier, Seydou Diarra, under a French-brokered peace accord.

In 2004, Lee Boyd Malvo, 19, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in 10 Washington-area sniper killings in 2002. (His partner, John Allen Muhammad, considered the mastermind, was executed in 2009.)

In 2007, Khalid Sheik Mohammed confessed to planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

In 2011, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, signed a bill ending or sharply restricting bargaining rights for most government workers in the state.

In 2012, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was accused of a door-to-door rampage in an Afghan neighborhood, killing 16 civilians, including nine children. (Bales was sentenced to life in prison.)

In 2013, a sport utility vehicle flipped and crashed into a pond at Warren, Ohio, killing six teenagers.

A thought for the day: "It is but a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death." -- Ban Ki-moon