Today is Saturday, March 10, the 69th day of 2007. There are 296 days left in the year. A reminder: Daylight-saving time begins Sunday at 2 a.m. locally. Clocks go forward one hour.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On March 10, 1876, the first successful voice transmission over Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone took place in Boston as his assistant heard Bell say, “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you.” (The words were recounted by Bell in his lab notebook.)
On this date:
In 1629, England’s King Charles I dissolved Parliament; he did not call it back for 11 years.
In 1785, Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.
In 1848, the Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico.
In 1880, the Salvation Army arrived in the United States from England.
In 1948, the body of the anti-Communist foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, Jan Masaryk, was found in the garden of Czernin Palace in Prague.
In 1949, Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as “Axis Sally,” was convicted in Washington of treason. (She served 12 years in prison.)
In 1965, Neil Simon’s play “The Odd Couple,” starring Walter Matthau and Art Carney, opened on Broadway.
In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)
In 1980, “Scarsdale Diet” author Dr. Herman Tarnower was shot to death in Purchase, N.Y. (Tarnower’s former lover, Jean Harris, was convicted of murder; she served nearly 12 years in prison before being released in January 1993.)
In 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, died at age 73.
Ten years ago: The White House and the FBI clashed in a rare public quarrel after President Clinton said he should have been alerted when the bureau told national security officials that the Chinese government might be trying to influence U.S. elections.
Five years ago: Israeli helicopters destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s office in Gaza City, hours after 11 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in a cafe across the street from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s residence in Jerusalem. Russell Crowe won best actor honors at the Screen Actors Guild awards for “A Beautiful Mind” while Halle Berry won best actress for “Monster’s Ball.” Actress Irene Worth died in New York at age 85.
One year ago: Officials confirmed that Tom Fox, an American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped in Iraq, had been found slain. A NASA spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, slipped into orbit around the Red Planet. Ohio State, acknowledging eight of nine violations alleged by the NCAA, was placed on three years’ probation. Opera singer Anna Moffo died in New York at age 73.
Today’s Birthdays: Talk show host Ralph Emery is 74. Bluegrass/country singer-musician Norman Blake is 69. Actor Chuck Norris is 67. Playwright David Rabe is 67. Singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) is 67. Actress Katharine Houghton is 62. Rock musician Tom Scholz (Boston) is 60. Producer-director-writer Paul Haggis is 54. Actress Shannon Tweed is 50. Actress Sharon Stone is
49. Rock musician Gail Greenwood is 47. Magician Lance Burton is
47. Actress Jasmine Guy is 45. Rock musician Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) is 44. Music producer Rick Rubin is 44. Britain’s Prince Edward is
43. Singer Edie Brickell is 41. Actor Stephen Mailer is 41. Actress Paget Brewster is 38. Country singer Daryle Singletary is 36. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 35. Actor Cristian de la Fuente is 33. Singer Robin Thicke is 30. Actress Bree Turner is 30. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller is 30. Country singer Carrie Underwood is 24. Actress Emily Osment is 15.
Thought for Today: “If the Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me.” — Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter.