19 Esfand 1396

Events

• 1496 (530 years ago) After establishing the city of Santo Domingo, Christopher Columbus departs for Spain, leaving his brother in command.
• 1661 (365 years ago) French "Sun King" Louis XIV begins his personal rule of France after the death of his premier, the Cardinal Mazarin.
• 1735 (291 years ago) An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
• 1906 (120 years ago) The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
• 1909 (117 years ago) 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.
• 1974 (52 years ago) 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.
• 1982 (44 years ago) Syzygy: All nine planets recognized at this time — Mercury to Pluto — align on the same side of the Sun.
• 2024 (2 years ago) 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.

Births

• 1452 (574 years ago) Ferdinand II, King of Castile and León (died 1516)
• 1845 (181 years ago) Alexander III of Russia,
• 1936 (90 years ago) Sepp Blatter, Swiss businessman and eighth president of FIFA
• 1940 (86 years ago) Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist (died 2026)
• 1957 (69 years ago) Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (died 2011)
• 1958 (68 years ago) Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
• 1981 (45 years ago) Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian footballer
• 1988 (38 years ago) Ivan Rakitić, Croatian football player

Deaths

• 483 (1543 years ago) Pope Simplicius,
• 1861 (165 years ago) Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, playwright, and ethnographer (born 1814)
• 1872 (154 years ago) Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (born 1805)
• 1913 (113 years ago) Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (born c. 1820)
• 1937 (89 years ago) Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (born 1884)
• 1940 (86 years ago) Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (born 1891)
• 1966 (60 years ago) Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888)
• 1985 (41 years ago) Konstantin Chernenko, Russian soldier and politician, Head of State of The Soviet Union (born 1911)

All 278 events, births and deaths of March 10