It’s Sunday, March 10, the 69th day of 2013. There are 296 days left in the year.
Happenings
Daylight saving — Time springs forward one hour this morning at 2 a.m. in most parts of the country. We’ll get an hour less sleep but will gain an hour more of evening sunlight until we “fall back" on Nov. 3.
Falklands — Today and Monday, 1,672 eligible voters in this far-off U.K. territory will decide whether to remain British or maybe become part of Argentina.
Hagel — The new defense secretary meets face-to-face with the Afghan president.
Birthdays
Talk show host Ralph Emery is 80. Actor Chuck Norris is 73. Playwright David Rabe is 73. Actor Richard Gant is 69. Actress Katharine Houghton is 68. Producer-director-writer Paul Haggis is 60. Actress Shannon Tweed is 56. Actress Sharon Stone is 55. Magician Lance Burton is 53. Music producer Rick Rubin is 50. Britain’s Prince Edward is 49. Actress Paget Brewster is 44. Actor Jon Hamm is 42. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 41. Actor Jeff Branson is 36. Country singer Carrie Underwood is 30. Actress Olivia Wilde is 29. Country singer Rachel Reinert is 24. Actress Emily Osment is 21.
History
Highlight: In 1913, former slave, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor" Harriet Tubman died in Auburn, N.Y.; she was in her 90s.
In 1785, Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.
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."
In 1880, the Salvation Army arrived in the United States from England.
In 1893, Ivory Coast became a French colony.
In 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake centered off Long Beach, Calif., resulted in 120 deaths.
In 1949, Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred Gillars, also known as “Axis Sally," was convicted in Washington, D.C., of treason. (She served 12 years in prison.)
In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)
In 1973, the Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon" was first released in the U.S. by Capitol Records.
In 1985, Konstantin Chernenko, who was the Soviet Union’s leader for just 13 months, died at age 73.
In 1988, prior to the 50th anniversary of the Anschluss, Austrian President Kurt Waldheim apologized on his country’s behalf for atrocities committed by Austrian Nazis.
In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was shot to death outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic. (Shooter Michael Griffin is serving a life sentence.)
Ten years ago: Facing almost certain defeat, the U.S. and Britain delayed a vote in the U.N. Security Council to give Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to disarm. Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, told a London audience: “Just so you know ... we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." (Maines later apologized for the phrasing.)
Five years ago: New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized after allegations surfaced that he had paid thousands for a high-end call girl. Barack Obama ridiculed the idea of being Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
One year ago: F. Sherwood Rowland, 84, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the Earth’s ozone layer, died.