10 March 1240

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa International Airport due to a fault within the software of the plane, resulting in the deaths of all 157 people on board.

The New York Times revealed that Eliot Spitzer (pictured), Governor of New York, had patronized a prostitution ring.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (artist's impression pictured) reached and entered orbit around Mars.

Eighteen months after seizing power, Prosper Avril was ousted as the military head of state of Haiti.

Astronomers using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory discovered a faint ring system around Uranus.

Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnam began its final push for victory over South Vietnam with an attack on Ban Me Thuot.

Vietnam War/Laotian Civil War: North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces overwhelmed the American, Laotian, Thai, and Hmong defenders of Lima Site 85.

Military prime minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.

Thomas Playford, Premier of South Australia, left office after 27 years, the longest term of any democratically elected leader in the history of Australia.

An anti-Chinese uprising began as thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Potala Palace in Lhasa to prevent the Dalai Lama from leaving or being removed by the Chinese army.

Mildred Gillars, nicknamed Axis Sally, was convicted of treason for working with the Nazis as a broadcaster.

World War II: The United States Army Air Forces conducted a firebombing raid on Tokyo that killed at least 90,000 people.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the first deliberately planned British offensive of the First World War, began.

Nine Years' War: At the Battle of Sant Esteve d'en Bas, Catalan miquelets attacked a column of French regular infantry and caused them to surrender.

The Roman Republic defeated Carthaginian forces at the Battle of the Aegates, off the western coast of Sicily, in the final battle of the First Punic War.

Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat recorded the second-highest scoring game in NBA history with 83 Points.

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.

Silicon Valley Bank collapses due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations are taken over by the FDIC.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 passengers and crew. This and the prior Lion Air Flight 610 led to all 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.

The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country's Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.

The Dot-com bubble peaks with the NASDAQ Composite stock market index reaching 5,048.62.

1991 Salvadoran legislative election: The Nationalist Republican Alliance wins 39 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.

In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted eighteen months after seizing power in a coup d'état in September 1988.