On this day in 1970, the U.S. Army accused Capt. Ernest Medina
and four other soldiers of committing crimes at My Lai (also
known as Songmy) in March 1968. The charges ranged from premeditated murder to rape and the “maiming” of a suspect
under interrogation. Medina was the company commander of
Lt. William Calley and other soldiers charged with murder and
numerous crimes at My Lai 4 in Song My village.

Ernest Lou Medina
(August 27, 1936 – May 8, 2018)

March 10, 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.” Bell had received a
comprehensive telephone patent just three days before.

     
    
    
Ray Milland (Alfred Reginald Jones)
(3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986)

Ray Milland was a Welsh-American actor and film director
who is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic
writer in Billy Wilder‘s The Lost Weekend (1945), which
won him Best Actor at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award,
and ultimately an Academy Award.

       
Milland died of lung cancer at the Torrance Memorial
Medical Center in Torrance, California, on 10 March
1986. He was 79  years old. In line with his instructions,
no funeral was held.          
 

His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered
into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Redondo Beach, California.  

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the
American Toy Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was
the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult
features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who
co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband (below) in 1945. 
        
        
        
        
        
       

Elliott and Ruth Handler

Mattel’s headquarters and factory near LAX in 1956.