On March 10…
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
~Harriet Tubman
1865 – Amy Spain, a 17-year old slave convicted of treason for stealing from her owner, was executed by a Confederate military court in the dying days of the Civil War.
She is believed to have been the last female slave to be “legally” executed.
In early 1865, a detachment of the Union Army arrived in Darlington, SC. The Union commander allowed slaves to take whatever belongings had been left behind.
Spain and her brother Willie dragged some mahogany furniture from an abandoned warehouse, and took “linens, sheets, pillow cases, flour, sugar, lard, and some furniture” from the home of their master.
The Union Army soon moved on and Confederate troops (led by General Joseph Wheeler) re-occupied the town. Those who had been present during the Union occupation reported that Spain had been the “ringleader” of the looting.
Spain was charged with “treason and conduct unbecoming a slave” by a Confederate military tribunal. She was sentenced to death, and hanged from a sycamore tree in the Darlington town square.
1876 – The first discernible speech was transmitted over a telephone system when inventor Alexander Graham Bell summoned his assistant in another room by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.”
1893 – New Mexico State University – then known as New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts – canceled its first graduation ceremony.
Sam Steel, the only scheduled graduate, had been shot and killed the night before.
1913 – Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia at the age of 91.
She was one of the giants in American history – a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War.
Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 slaves.
Despite her years of service, Tubman never received a regular salary. In 1874, a bill in the US. House of Representatives was introduced, seeking “the sum of $2,000 for services rendered by her to the Union Army as scout, nurse, and spy.”
The bill was defeated in the Senate.
$20 Bill Factoid: In 2016, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that Andrew Jackson would be replaced by Tubman on the front of the $20 bill, with Jackson appearing on the reverse.
However, in 2019, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that no new imagery would be unveiled until 2026, and that a new bill won’t go into circulation until 2028.
1965 – Buck Owens and His Buckaroos released the I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail album.
The album included the title song, which reached #1on the Billboard Country charts and #25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1965 – Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple opened at the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway.
Art Carney and Walter Matthau played the roles of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison.
1966 – Bob Dylan recorded Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, I Want You, Obviously 5 Believers and Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat.
Song Factoid:I Want You was the last song recorded for Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde double-album. It was issued as a single that June, shortly before the release of the album, and peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1969 – James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Three days later, he recanted his confession. Ray had entered a guilty plea on the advice of his attorney, Percy Foreman, an effort to avoid the death sentence.
Ray spent the remainder of his life unsuccessfully attempting to withdraw his guilty plea and secure a trial.
1973 – Theophilus “Bull” Connor died following a stroke at the age of 75.
As the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, he enforced racial segregation and denied civil rights to black citizens – making him an international symbol of racism.
1978 – The Incredible Hulk, starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, premiered on CBS, beginning a five year run.
1980 – Scarsdale Diet author Dr. Herman Tarnower was shot to death in Purchase, N.Y. His lover, Jean Harris, was convicted of murder and served nearly 12 years in prison.
1981 – Kim Carnes released Bette Davis Eyes.
The song, written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, spent nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and reached #1 in twenty other countries), and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Rock Factoid: Actress Bette Davis, 73 years old at the time, wrote letters to Carnes, Weiss, and DeShannon to thank all three of them for making her “a part of modern times.”
1986 – Academy Award winning actor Ray Milland died of lung cancer at the age of 79.
In his 60-year film career, Milland appeared in over 100 films, including Dial M For Murder, The Big Clock, Reap The Wild Wind, The Thief, and The Lost Weekend, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
1988 – Singer Andy Gibb died of Myocarditis – inflammation of the heart – at the age of 30.
The younger brother of the Bee Gees (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb), he came to international prominence in 1977-78 with six singles that reached the Top 10 in the U.S., including I Just Want to Be Your Everything, Shadow Dancing, An Everlasting Love, and(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away.
Severe depression and an addiction to cocaine in the early 1980s derailed his career but by 1988, he was given a clean bill of health and was attempting a comeback.
However, the inflammation of the heart muscle caused by years of cocaine abuse had fatally weakened his heart.
1998 – Actor Lloyd Bridges died of natural causes at the age of 85.
He appeared in High Noon, Roots, How The West Was Won, Airplane!, and Hot Shots!, but was best known for his role as Mike Nelson, the main character in the television series Sea Hunt.
2007 – Comedian Richard Jeni committed suicide, dying from a self-inflicted handgun wound to the head.
According to the coroner’s report released in June 2007, Jeni had a history of schizophrenia and had been taking antidepressants and a sleeping aid.
The report further indicated that his girlfriend heard him talking to himself about a week earlier, saying “just squeeze the trigger.”
2008 – New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized after allegations surfaced that he had paid thousands of dollars for a high-end call girl, a scandal which eventually led to his resignation.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2020 RayLemire.com / Streamingoldies.com. All Rights Reserved.