The Almanac

Today is Thursday, March 28, the 87th day of 2002 with 278 to follow.

This is the first day of Passover.

The moon is full.

The morning star is Mercury.

The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Russian author Maxim Gorky in 1868; brewers Frederick Pabst in 1836 and August Anheuser Busch Jr. in 1899; famed Hollywood agent Irving "Swifty" Lazar in 1907; Edmund Muskie, the 1968 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, in 1914; child star Freddie Bartholomew in 1924; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter administration national security adviser, in 1928 (age 74); actors Dirk Bogarde in 1921, Conchata Ferrell in 1943 (age 59), Ken Howard in 1944 (age 58) and Dianne Wiest in 1948 (age 54); and country singer Reba McEntire in 1954 (age 48).

On this date in history:

In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs was awarded a patent for the first washing machine.

In 1881, P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey merged their circuses to form the "Greatest Show on Earth."

In 1939, Madrid surrendered to the nationalist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1968, the counterculture musical "Hair" opened on Broadway.

In 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, died in Washington, D.C., at age 78.

In 1979, a failure in the cooling system at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania caused a near-meltdown. It was the worst accident ever at an American civilian nuclear facility.

In 1991, just days before the 10th anniversary of the attempt on his life, former President Reagan endorsed a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases, reversing his earlier opposition.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment vote by the Congress of People's Deputies.

Also in 1993, French voters rejected the ruling Socialists and gave the conservative alliance a crushing majority in legislative elections.

In 1994, pre-election clashes between Zulu nationalists, the ANC and police claimed 53 lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In 1996, Congress approved the presidential line-item veto.

In 1997, an Italian warship collided with an Albanian ship crowded with refugees, causing an undetermined number of deaths.

In 1999, Purdue University won its first women's basketball championship, defeating Duke University, 62-45. Its coach was the first black woman to coach the women's championship team.

In 2001, a suicide bomber killed two Israeli teenagers as they waited for a school bus in Jerusalem.

A thought for the day: Seneca wrote, "What difference does it make how much you have? What you do not have amounts to much more."