What Happened in March 2010

Historical Events

Alice in Wonderland

Mar 3 "Alice in Wonderland", inspired by Lewis Carroll directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska is released

  • Mar 6 30th Golden Raspberry Awards: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" wins

Event of Interest

Mar 10 Carlos Slim becomes the first Mexican and person from an emerging economy to top Forbes Richest Person list, with net worth of US$53.5 billion

Laureus Awards

Mar 10 Laureus World Sports Awards, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Sportsman: Usain Bolt; Sportswoman: Serena Williams; Team: Brawn F1 team

Event of Interest

Mar 11 Sebastián Piñera becomes Chilean president for the 1st time

  • Mar 13 31st Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: #7 West Virginia beats #22 Georgetown, 60-58
  • Mar 14 51st SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Mississippi State, 75-74 (OT)
  • Mar 14 57th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #4 Duke beats Georgia Tech, 65-61

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Mar 15 25th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: ABBA; Genesis; Jimmy Cliff; The Hollies; The Stooges; David Geffen; Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil; Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry; Jesse Stone; Mort Shuman; and Otis Blackwell

  • Mar 16 Parts of the Kasubi Tombs, architectural treasure and burial site of the Buganda kings, burns down in Kampala, Uganda
  • Mar 20 56th National Film Awards (India): "Antaheen" wins the Golden Lotus
  • Mar 20 France edges England, 12-10 at Stade de France, Saint Denis to complete a Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship; France's 17th title
  • Mar 22 NASA's rover 'Spirit' gets caught in a sand trap on Mars and ceases communications with Earth [1]

Event of Interest

Mar 23 US President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Care Act (ACA), nicknamed 'Obamacare', expanding the availability and affordability of health care insurance

  • Mar 24 Lee Kun-hee returns to Samsung Electronics chief executive officer (CEO) position after his resignation in April 21, 2008

Music History

Mar 24 The World Health Organization appoints Craig David as a Goodwill Ambassador against tuberculosis on World Tuberculosis Day

WrestleMania

Mar 28 WrestleMania XXVI, Uni of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ (72,219): Chris Jericho defeats Edge; John Cena downs Batista; The Undertaker beats Shawn Michaels

  • Mar 29 Archaeological site of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza purchased by the Mexican state of Yucatán from a private landowner
  • Mar 29 Two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40
2010 History

Famous Weddings

Sacha Baron Cohen & Isla Fisher

Mar 15 Stand-up comedian and writer Sacha Baron Cohen (40) weds actress Isla Fisher (36) in Paris, France

  • Mar 28 "The Real Housewives of New York City" TV Personality Bethenny Frankel (39) weds Jason Hoppy at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City

Famous Divorces

James Van Der Beek

Mar 31 "Dawson's Creek" actor James Van Der Beek (32) divorces actress Heather Ann McComb (33) after almost 7 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

  • Mar 1 Kristian Digby, British television presenter and director, dies at 32
  • Mar 2 Paul Drayton, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1964), dies from a pulmonary embolism at 70
  • Mar 2 Winston Spencer-Churchill, British politician (b. 1940)
  • Mar 3 Dudley "Big Tiny" Little Jr, American pianist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies at 79
  • Mar 3 Keith Alexander, British soccer forward (3 caps St Lucia; Grimsby Town FC, Lincoln City FC) and manager (Lincoln, Peterborough, Macclesfield), dies from a brain aneurysm at 56
  • Mar 3 Michael Foot, British politician (L) and writer, Leader of the Opposition (1980-83), dies at 96
  • Mar 4 Angelo Poffo, American professional wrestler (b. 1925)
  • Mar 4 Etta Cameron, Danish singer and actor (b. 1939)
  • Mar 4 Fred Wedlock, British folk musician (b. 1942)
  • Mar 4 Hilario Chávez Joya, Mexican Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1928)
  • Mar 4 Joanne Simpson, American meteorologist (b. 1923)
  • Mar 4 Joaquim Fiúza, Portuguese sailor (b. 1908)
  • Mar 4 Johnny Alf, Brazilian singer and composer (b. 1929)
  • Mar 4 Lolly Vegas [Candido Vasquez], American rock singer (Redbone - "Come And Get Your Love"), dies of cancer at 70
  • Mar 4 Nan Martin, American actress (b. 1927)
  • Mar 4 Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect (b. 1933)
  • Mar 4 Roger Newman, British-born American actor and television writer (b. 1940)
  • Mar 4 Samuel J. Eldersveld, U.S. academic, political scientist, and Democratic politician (b. 1917)
  • Mar 4 Tetsuo Kondo, Japanese politician (b. 1929)
  • Mar 4 Vladislav Ardzinba, Abkhazian politician (b. 1945)
  • Mar 5 Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom 1999, dies at 103
  • Mar 6 Denis Henry, British High Court judge, dies at 78
  • Mar 6 Endurance Idahor, Nigerian footballer (b. 1984)
  • Mar 6 Mark Linkous, member of Sparklehorse (b. 1962)
  • Mar 6 Ole Schmidt, Danish composer and conductor, dies at 81
  • Mar 7 John Harrison, British vice admiral and surgeon (Medical Director Royal Navy during Falklands War), dies at 88
  • Mar 7 Mary Josephine Ray, Canadian-American supercentenarian, dies at 114
  • Mar 9 Doris Haddock, American political activist (b. 1910)

Willie Davis (1940-2010)

Mar 9 American MLB center fielder (LA Dodgers), dies at 69

  • Mar 10 (Doyle) "Nick" Taylor, American rock guitarist (Bloodrock), dies in a car accident at 63
  • Mar 10 Corey Haim, Canadian actor (Silver Bullet, Lucas, License to Drive), dies of pneumonia at 38
  • Mar 10 Édgar Valcárcel, Peruvian pianist and composer, dies at 77
  • Mar 10 Micky Jones, Welsh rock guitarist (Man), dies of a brain tumor at 63
  • Mar 11 Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1931)
  • Mar 11 Leena Peltonen-Palotie, Finnish human geneticist (b. 1952)
  • Mar 11 Merlin Olsen, American football player (Los Angeles Rams) and actor (Father Murphy), dies of cancer at 69
  • Mar 12 Lesley Duncan (Cox), British session singer (Pink Floyd; Jesus Christ Superstar), and singer-songwriter ("Love Song"; "Sing Children Sing"), dies of cerebrovascular disease at 66
  • Mar 12 Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (The Holy Innocents), dies at 89
  • Mar 13 He Pingping, Chinese world's shortest man who was able to walk at 74 cm (2 ft 5 in), dies at 21
  • Mar 13 Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter, dies at 79
  • Mar 14 (Donald) "Der" Scutt, American architect (Grand Hyatt; One Astor Place; Trump Tower), dies of liver failure at 75
  • Mar 14 Peter Graves [Aurness], American actor (Mission Impossible, Airplane!, Stalag 17), dies from a heart attack at 83
  • Mar 17 Alex Chilton, American rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Box Tops - "The Letter"; Big Star - "Thirteen"), dies of a heart attack at 59
  • Mar 17 Charlie Gillett, British pop-rock and world music radio presenter and writer (The Sound of the City), dies at 68
  • Mar 17 Robert Michael White, American test pilot (X-15), dies at 85
  • Mar 17 Sid Fleischman, American author, and screenplay writer (The Whipping Boy; Blood Alley: The Abracadabra Kid), dies at 90
  • Mar 17 Wayne Collett, American 400m runner (Olympic silver 1972), dies of cancer at 60
  • Mar 18 Fess Parker, American actor (Davy Crockett, Old Yeller), dies at 85
  • Mar 20 Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepalese politician (b. 1925)
  • Mar 20 Liz Carpenter, American feminist writer (b. 1920)
  • Mar 20 Stewart Udall, American politician and environmentalist (US Secretary of Interior 1961-69), dies at 90
  • Mar 20 Vasile Herman, Romanian pianist and composer, dies at 80
  • Mar 21 Wolfgang Wagner, German opera director (b. 1919)

James Black (1924-2010)

Mar 22 Scottish pharmacologist, developer of treatments for heart disease (propranolol) and stomach ulcers (cimetidine) (Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1988), dies at 85

  • Mar 22 James W. Black, Scottish Nobel Prize-winning doctor and medical research scientist (b. 1924)
  • Mar 23 Blanche Thebom, American mezzo-soprano (Amneris-Aida), dies at 94
  • Mar 24 Jim Marshall, American photographer (The Beatles final concert in San Francisco; Woodstock Festival), dies at 74
  • Mar 24 Johnny Maestro, American rock vocalist (Crests - "16 Candles"; Brooklyn Bridge), dies at 70
  • Mar 24 Jules van Neerven, Dutch economist, journalist, and editor (Limbourg Daily), dies at 80
  • Mar 24 Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), dies at 79
  • Mar 24 Ron Hamence, Australian cricketer (Australian batsman post-WWII), dies at 94
  • Mar 25 Pål Bang-Hansen, Norwegian film critic and television personality (b. 1937)
  • Mar 27 Stan Parris, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1973-74, 81-91), dies at 80
  • Mar 27 Vasily Smyslov, Russian grandmaster (b. 1921)
  • Mar 28 June Havoc Ellen Evangeline Hovick], Canadian-born American stage and screen actress, dies at 97
  • Mar 30 Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-born American high school teacher at Garfield High School (b. 1930)
  • Mar 30 John Bunch, American jazz pianist (New York Swing Trio), dies of melanoma at 88
  • Mar 30 Martin Sandberger, German military officer (b. 1911)
  • Mar 31 Shirley Mills, American actress (b. 1926)