This Day in History: March 7

• 321 Roman Emperor Constantine I decrees that the Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire.

• 1876 Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone in the US.

• 1936 Adolf Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles and sends troops into the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone along Rhine river in western Germany.

• 1942 First cadets graduated from flying school at Tuskegee.

• 1969 Israel elected Golda Meir as the first female prime minister.

• 1994 US Navy issues 1st permanent order assigning women to combat ships.

• 1994 ANC chief Nelson Mandela rejects demand by white right-wingers for separate homeland in South Africa.

• 2010 82nd Academy Awards: “The Hurt Locker,” Jeff Bridges & Sandra Bullock win