| On March 10,1496 Columbus set out for home from Hispanola, with 225 Europeans and a large number of natives he had enslaved, but with very little gold. This time he did not receive a hero's welcome. His men were bitter that they did not find the wealth they were seeking, they found no cities, no money economy, no metal tools, manufactures or ores. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1791, John Stone of Concord, Mass., patented the pile driver, which he called a "driving pile for bridges." Over fifty years later, on June 26, 1847, a steam pile driver was patented in the U.S. by James Naysmyth of Patricroft, England. |
Close this window |
| Hawaii's first coins were issued in 1847. They were copper cents bearing the portrait of King Kamehameha III. The coins proved unpopular due to the poor quality portrait of the king and the misspelling of the denomination. The dollar or dala was the currency of Hawaii between 1847 and 1898. It was equal to the US dollar and was divided into 100 cents or keneta. | |
 |
 |
Close this window | |
| Lincoln started work on his invention between sessions of Congress in 1848. On his way home to Illinois his boat became stranded on a sandbar. As William Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner, told the story, "The captain ordered the hands to collect all the loose planks, empty barrels and boxes and force them under the sides of the boat. These empty casks were used to buoy it up. After forcing enough of them under the vessel she lifted gradually and at last swung clear of the opposing sand bar." |
Close this window |
| Paper money was first issued in the United States on March 10, 1862, and became legal tender by an act of Congress seven days later. On the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes called Demand Notes. Demand Notes were replaced by United States Notes. Commonly called "Greenbacks." |
 |
Close this window |
| In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made what was, in effect, the first telephone call. His assistant, Thomas Watson, located in an adjoining room in Boston, heard Bell's voice over the experimental device say to him, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you." This was Bell's first successful experiment with the telephone, which is recorded in the March 10 entry of his Lab Notebook. That same day, an ebullient Bell wrote his father of his "great success" and speculated that "the day is coming when telegraph [phone] wires will be laid on to houses just like water and gas - and friends converse with each other without leaving home." Bell had received the first telephone patent three days before. Later that year, Bell succeeded in making a phone call over outdoor lines. |
 |
Close this window |
| The Salvation Army was founded by William and Catherine Booth in London in 1865 as an Evangelical movement called the Christian Revival Association. n 1878, the name was changed to The Salvation Army. On March 10, 1880, Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven young women arrived in the USA and began operations. The Salvation Army's main converts were at first alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and other "undesirables" of society. |
 |
Close this window |
| In 1891, Almon B. Strowger was issued a U.S. patent for his electromechanical switch to automate a telephone exchange. Strowger did not invent the idea of automatic switching ( it was first invented in 1879 by Connolly and McTigthe) but Strowger was the first to put it to effective use. His selector used electromagnets and pawls to move a wiper (with contacts on the end) vertically and around a bank of many other contacts, able to make a connection with any one of them. |
 |
Close this window |
| In 1903, Harry C. Gammeter, a typewriter salesman of Cleveland, Ohio patented the multigraph "duplicating machine." It was the first successful machine in the U.S. to simplify the printing processes, so that a layman could print from type. The machine had two drums. The printing drum carried type to give the actual impression on paper. A supply drum carried the type when not in actual use, mounted on the same axis so type could pass between them, sliding and retained in longitudinal channels. |
Close this window |
| The craters of Mount Erebus were first visited in March 1908 by members of Shackleton's expedition, who initially noted the "vast abyss" filled with great masses of steam that rose in a column 150 to 300 meters high. During a brief clearing, they observed the crater and noted the steam explosions issuing from three well-defined openings at the bottom of the high cauldron. The party also observed around the summit area "lumps of lava, large feldspar crystals, from one to three inches in length, and fragments of pumice; both feldspar' and pumice were in many cases coated with sulfur." |
 |
Close this window |
| The first 300 game in ABC Tournament history was rolled in 1913 by William Knox of Philadelphia in Toledo, OH. |
Close this window |
| "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" came from the film, "Naughty Marietta". Later, Eddy recorded the classic tune with Jeanette MacDonald. |  |
Close this window | |
| A young clarinetist whom they would crown, ‘King of Swing’ performed at the Paramount on this night. The popular musician was Benny Goodman. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1948, Herbert H. Hoover became the first civilian pilot to exceed the speed of sound when he flew a Bell X-1 research aircraft at Edwards AFB, California. Instead of making its own take-off, the X-1 was loaded under the bomb bay of a B29 mother ship which carried it aloft, then released it at 20,000 feet. He reached Mach 1.065. Hoover was a test pilot working for NACA (the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the predecessor of today's NASA). A U.S. Air Force Captain, Chuck Yeager, was the first pilot to break the sound barrier and land safely a few months earlier, on October 14, 1947, also flying an X-1. |
 |
Close this window |
| As Axis Sally, she conducted propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis during World War II beamed to American troops overseas and Americans at home. She played sentimental recordings and wondered aloud to the GIs what their girls back home were doing. Her broadcasts also were aimed at raising the prestige of the German Army. She was sentenced to 10 to 30 years and was paroled in 1961. |  |
Close this window | |
| Dubbed by Arturo Toscannini "the greatest voice of the 20th century," Mario Lanza was one of America's most successful singers and movie stars in the years immediately following World War Tow. After making his first -- and final -- appearance on the professional opera stage in 1948 in the New Orleans Opera's production of Madame Butterfly, Lanza made his MGM debut the following year in The Midnight Kiss, scoring a hit with the soundtrack's "Celeste Aida." The Toast of New Orleans followed, launching his first million-selling hit, "Be My Love." |
 |
Close this window |
| Batista was the de facto military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940 and the de jure President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. He then became the country's leader, after staging a coup, from 1952 to 1959. On March 10th, 1953, Cuban General Fulgencio Batista re-assumed power, after a coup d'etat prior to the yearly elections, establishing a cruel repression and an unconstitutional system in a country characterized by political corruption, poverty, hunger, unemployment and submission to the US imperialism. |
 |
Close this window |
| The Fairey Delta 2 (FD2) was the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph in level flight. There were two FD2 aircraft built. The first FD2 was flown on it's on its maiden flight by Lt Cdr Peter Twiss on October 6, 1954. On the 10 Mar 1956 Twiss set a new World Absolute Speed Record of 1820kph (1132mph) between Ford and Chichester in Sussex, UK. This beat the old record by more than 300mph which was quite an achievement considering the old record had only been set the previous year by an American F100 Super Sabre. |
 |
Close this window |
| Nelson Riddle was one of the most admired and versatile arranger/composers of the post-war era, with major radio, television, film, and recording successes to his credit. Riddle was known as one of the best arranger for singers, and backed many of Capitol's vocalists, including Margaret Whiting, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, and Frank Sinatra. His biggest hits, though, were lighter pieces. Riddle's own recordings from this period aimed for the same audience as Jackie Gleason, and other "mood music" artists. Riddle had a knack for making his point through understatement that eluded Gleason. The first, "Lisbon Antigua," was brought to his attention by the sister of Nat "King" Cole's manager, and came out at the height of the wave of European covers. |
 |
Close this window |
| Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, granddaughter of the Old Roman, sold her 54 percent ownership in the White Sox to Bill Veeck's syndicate for $2.7 million. Brother Chuck fails in his attempt to match or improve the bid. Comiskey control of the franchise ends after 60 years. |  |
Close this window | |
| Channel wrote "Hey! Baby" around 1959 with his friend Margaret Cobb. He had already been performing the tune for a couple of years before recording it amidst a series of demos for Fort Worth producer Major Bill Smith. First released locally on Smith's label, it was picked up for national distribution by Smash. |  |
Close this window | |
| In Tampa, non-roster player Pete Rose made his first appearance with the Reds, doubling twice in two at bats against the White Sox. Rose enters in the 9th inning, and hits in the 11th and 14th, scoring the game's only run. |  |
Close this window | |
| Sportswriter Leonard Koppett stated: "Wilt shattered virtually every scoring record in his first few years in the league. In the process of doing that, he rendered statistics irrelevant. So when Wilt scored 70 points in a game, no one paid attention.” Chamberlain scored 50 or more points 118 times in his career. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1971, the 26th Amendment granting 18- to 20-year-olds the right to vote swept through Congress and the states faster than any previous constitutional amendment. The driving force behind the measure came in large part from the country’s youth who raised troubling questions about the legitimacy of a representative government that asked 18- to 20-year-olds to fight and die in the Vietnam War but denied them the right to vote on war-related issues. |
Close this window |
| "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is about Don McLean, a singer/songwriter famous for his hit "American Pie." Flack worked on this in the studio for 3 months, playing around with various chord structures until she got it just right. It won Grammys in 1974 for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1977, the rings of Uranus were discovered from earth by stellar occultation experiments made when Uranus passed in front of a star and it was noticed that there were dips in the brightness of the star before and after it passed behind the body of Uranus. This data suggested that Uranus was surrounded by at least five rings. Four more rings were suggested by subsequent occultation measurements from the Earth, and two additional ones were found by space probe Voyager 2, bringing the total to 11. Direct observations of the rings from earth had not been possible, because the rings are lost in the planet's glare as seen through terrestrial optical telescopes. |
 |
Close this window |
| "I Will Survive" is a female-empowerment anthem. It is about moving on after a bad relationship. Over the years, it has taken on meaning for people who have overcome just about any difficult situation. It won the 1979 Grammy for Best Disco Recording. It was the first and last time that the Grammys offered this category. |  |
Close this window | |
| In 1982, a syzygy occurred when all nine planets aligned on the same side of the Sun. The planets are spread out over 98 degrees on this date. The four major planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, span an arc of some 73 degrees. |
Close this window |
| On March 10, 1983, the United States established an exclusive economic zone, the outer limit of which is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The U.S. EEZ is the largest in the world, containing 3.4 million square miles of ocean and 90,000 miles of coastline. |
Close this window |
| "Jump" was Van Halen's first #1 hit, and their only #1 with David Lee Roth as lead singer. As early as 1981, Eddie Van Halen had written the keyboard part that would eventually become this song. David Lee Roth didn't like the idea of Eddie playing keyboards, and it wasn't until Eddie had built his own recording studio that he recorded the song with Ted Templeman during a late night recording session. When hearing the song, the band decided to include it on the 1984 album - something that is rumored to have contributed to Roth's departure a year later. |
 |
Close this window |
| Jackson was going to do a remake of the Martha Reeves And the Vandellas' 1965 hit "Nowhere to Run," but Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were her songwriters and producers, suggested they do an original song with a similar beat (this meant they would keep more of the songwriting royalties). Jam and Lewis pulled the word "Escapade" from a notebook they kept of song title ideas, and came up with the track while Jackson wrote the lyrics. This was one of 7 US Top-5 singles from the album. |
 |
Close this window |
 |
|||
1496 Christopher Columbus concluded
his second visit to the Western Hemisphere
More ...
1791 John Stone, Concord MA, patents a pile driver
More ...
1847 First money minted in Hawaii
More ...
1849 Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, IL applied
for a patent
More ...
1862 US issues first paper money ($5, $10, $20,
$50, $100, $500 & $1000)
More ...
1876 The first successful voice transmission over
Alexander Graham Bell's telephone
More ...
1880 The Salvation Army was founded in the United
States
More ...
1891 Almon Strowger was issued a patent for the
automatic telephone exchange
More ...
1893 New Mexico State University cancels its first
graduation ceremony, its only graduate Sam Steele was robbed & killed
the night before
1903 Harry C. Gammeter of Cleveland, OH patented
the multigraph duplicating machine
More ...
1908 First ascent of Mount Erebus, Antarctica
More ...
1913 William Knox rolled the first perfect 300
game in tournament competition
More ...
1935 Nelson Eddy recorded "Ah! Sweet Mystery
of Life" for Victor Records
More ...
1937 An audience of 21,000 jitterbuggers jammed
the Paramount Theatre in NYC
More ...
1941 Larry MacPhail, Dodger GM predicts all players
will wear batting helmets
1948 First civilian to exceed speed of sound-Herb
H Hoover, Edwards AFB California
More ...
1949 Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars,
a.k.a. "Axis Sally," was convicted of treason
More ...
1951 FBI director J Edgar Hoover declines post
of baseball commissioner
1951 "Be My Love" by Mario Lanza topped
the charts
More ...
1952 Military coup by General Fulgencio Batista
in Cuba
More ...
1956 Peter Twiss sets new world air record 1,132
mph (1,823 kph)
More ...
1956 "Lisbon Antigua" by Nelson Riddle
topped the charts
More ...
1959 Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, sells 54% of White
Sox to Bill Veeck
More ...
1962 "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel topped
the charts
More ...
1963 Pete Rose debuts with hits in his two first
at bats in spring training
More ...
1963 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA San Francisco Warriors
scores 70 points vs Syracuse
More ...
1965 Walter Matthau and Art Carney opened in "The
Odd Couple", one of Neil Simon’s greatest theatrical triumphs
1971 Senate approves amendment lowering voting
age to 18
More ...
1973 "Killing Me Softly with His Song"
by Roberta Flack topped the charts
More ...
1977 Rings of Uranus discovered during occultation
of SAO
More ...
1979 "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
topped the charts
More ...
1980 Willard Scott becomes the weather forecaster
on the Today Show
1982 Sygyzy: all 9 planets aligned on same side
of Sun
More ...
1983 Exclusive economic zone established by the United States
More ...
1984 "Jump" by Van Halen topped the
charts
More ...
1990 "Escapade" by Janet Jackson topped
the charts
More ...
1995 Dow-Jones hits record 4035.64