Today's History 📜

10th March 2026

Year - 2024

2024 Portuguese legislative election: Elections are held in Portugal for all 230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic. The Partido Socialista loses its absolute majority to the Partido Social Democrata, winning 77 and 79 seats respectively.

Year - 2023

Silicon Valley Bank collapses due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations are taken over by the FDIC.

Year - 2022

2022 Hungarian presidential election: The National Assembly of Hungary elects former minister for Family Affairs, Katalin Novák, as president of Hungary in a 137-51 vote, becoming the first female president in the country's history.

Year - 2019

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes shortly after take off, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This and the prior Lion Air Flight 610 led to all 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.

Year - 2017

The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.

Year - 2006

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.

Year - 2000

The Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.

Year - 1991

1991 Salvadoran legislative election: The Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.

Year - 1990

In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted eighteen months after seizing power in a coup d'état in September 1988.

Year - 1989

Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28 Fellowship, crashes at Dryden Regional Airport in Dryden, Ontario, Canada, killing 24.

Year - 1982

Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at this time — Mercury to Pluto — align on the same side of the Sun.

Year - 1979

1979 International Women's Day protests in Tehran: Protestor involvement peaks with 15,000 Iranian women and girls performing a three‐hour-long sit‐in at the Courthouse of Tehran.

Year - 1977

Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.

Year - 1975

Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.

Year - 1974

1974 Belgian general election: Elections are held in Belgium for all 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, the Belgian Socialist Party taking the majority with 59.

Year - 1971

John Gorton resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia after a secret ballot vote of confidence, being replaced in both positions by William McMahon.

Year - 1970

Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.

Year - 1969

In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.

Year - 1966

Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacks rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.

Year - 1959

Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.

Year - 1952

Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.

Year - 1949

Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") is convicted of treason.

Year - 1945

World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.

Year - 1944

Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.

Year - 1933

The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area, leaving around 108 people dead.

Year - 1922

Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.

Year - 1909

By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.

Year - 1906

The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.

Year - 1891

Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.

Year - 1876

The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.

Year - 1873

The first Azerbaijani play, The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran, prepared by Akhundov, is performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.

Year - 1861

El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.

Year - 1848

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican-American War.

Year - 1831

The French Foreign Legion is created by Louis Philippe, the King of France, from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France.

Year - 1830

The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.

Year - 1814

Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.

Year - 1762

French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.

Year - 1735

An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.

Year - 1661

French "Sun King" Louis XIV begins his personal rule of France after the death of his premier, the Cardinal Mazarin.

Year - 1629

Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.

Year - 1607

Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.

Year - 1535

Spaniard Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the fourth Bishop of Panama, discovers the Galápagos Islands by chance on his way to Peru.

Year - 1496

After establishing the city of Santo Domingo, Christopher Columbus departs for Spain, leaving his brother in command.

Year - 947

The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.

Year - 298

Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.

Year - 241 BC

• 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.

Last Updated: 3/10/2026, 4:20:33 AM (in GMT)