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On This Day March 10

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Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris (“Way of the Dragon,” “Walker, Texas Ranger”)

1958 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Sharon Stone (“Total Recall,” “Basic Instinct,” “Casino,” “The Mighty”)

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actor Jon Hamm, best known as ad executive Don Draper in the TV series “Mad Men”

1983 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood, whose career was launched after winning Season 4 of “American Idol”

1984 – Actress Olivia Wilde (“House,” “Tron: Legacy,” “Cowboys and Aliens,” “In Time”)

History Highlights

1862 – Paper money, known as Legal Tender Notes or United States Notes, is issued for the first time in the U.S. The denominations are $5 (Hamilton), $10 (Lincoln) and $20 (Liberty).

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell places the world’s first telephone call at his Boston laboratory. He summons his assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in the next room, by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here — I want to see you.” Bell had secured a patent for his groundbreaking communication device just three days earlier.

1959 – Some 300,000 Tibetans band together in revolt, surrounding the summer palace of the Dalai Lama in defiance of Chinese occupation forces that moved in almost 10 years earlier. The anniversary of the failed rebellion is observed by Tibetan exiles as the “Tibetan Uprising Day.”

1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years in Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee. Ray later retracts his guilty plea.

1993 – An anti-abortion protester shoots and kills Dr. David Gunn outside the Pensacola (Florida) Women’s Medical Services clinic, where Gunn performed abortions. Although the gunman immediately turns himself in to authorities, the murder sets off a wave of deadly anti-abortion violence across the U.S. 

Musical Milestones

1956 – RCA Victor takes out a half-page ad in Billboard magazine proclaiming that Elvis Presley is “the new singing rage.”

1962 – “Hey! Baby,” by Bruce Channel, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel record an acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence” for their debut album, “Wednesday Morning, 3AM.” Later, without the duo’s knowledge, Columbia Records producers overdub electric guitar, bass and drums for another version of the track that becomes the chart-topping hit in January 1966.

1979 – Gloria Gaynor reaches the top of the singles chart with the disco anthem “I Will Survive.”

1984 – Madonna charts for the first time in her career with “Borderline.” The single climbs as high as No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – Pop sensation Andy Gibb, the younger brother of the Bee Gees, dies of an inflammatory heart virus at the age of 30. 

1990 – “Escapade,” by Janet Jackson, is in the midst of a three-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100. 

2003 – During a concert in London, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines declares that the band is “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” referring to President George W. Bush.  The remark sparks outrage among many Americans, and some radio stations stop playing their music.

2010 – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” by Kelly Clarkson, is the No. 1 single for a week.

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