TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Tuesday, March 10, the 70th day of 2020. There are 296 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 10, 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, who was the Soviet Union’s leader for 13 months, died at age 73; he was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev.

On this date:

In 1496, Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere as he left Hispaniola for Spain.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln assigned Ulysses S. Grant, who had just received his commission as lieutenant-general, to the command of the Armies of the United States.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant, Thomas Watson, heard Bell say over his experimental telephone: “Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you” from the next room of Bell’s Boston laboratory.

In 1906, about 1,100 miners in northern France were killed by a coal-dust explosion.

In 1913, former slave, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, New York; she was in her 90s.

In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tennessee (on his 41st birthday) to assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)

In 2000, Pope John Paul II approved sainthood for Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia socialite who had taken a vow of poverty and devoted her fortune to helping poor blacks and American Indians. (Drexel, who died in 1955, was canonized in October 2000.)

Today’s Birthdays: Talk show host Ralph Emery is 87. Bluegrass/country singer-musician Norman Blake is 82. Actor Chuck Norris is 80. Playwright David Rabe is 80. Singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) is 80. Actress Katharine Houghton (Film: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”) is 78. Actor Richard Gant is 76. Rock musician Tom Scholz (Boston) is 73. Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell is 73. TV personality/businesswoman Barbara Corcoran (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 71. Actress Aloma Wright is 70. Blues musician Ronnie Earl (Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters) is 67. Producer-director-writer Paul Haggis is 67. Alt-country/rock musician Gary Louris is 65. Actress Shannon Tweed is 63. Pop/jazz singer Jeanie Bryson is 62. Actress Sharon Stone is 62. Rock musician Gail Greenwood is 60. Magician Lance Burton is 60. Movie producer Scott Gardenhour is 59. Actress Jasmine Guy is 58. Rock musician Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) is 57. Music producer Rick Rubin is 57. Britain’s Prince Edward is 56. Rock singer Edie Brickell is 54. Actor Stephen Mailer is 54. Actor Philip Anthony-Rodriguez is 52. Actress Paget Brewster is 51. Actor Jon Hamm is 49.

Thought for Today: “He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.” — Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher.

By The Associated Press

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