The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, March 7, the 66th day of 2007 with 299 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Neptune and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Saturn and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include English painter Edwin Henry Landseer in 1802; American botanist Luther Burbank in 1849; Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian in 1872; French composer Maurice Ravel in 1875; actress Anna Magnani in 1908; NBC "Today Show" weatherman Willard Scott in 1934 (age 73); former Disney executive Michael Eisner and TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in 1942 (age 65); actors Daniel J. Travanti in 1940 (age 67) and John Heard in 1945 (age 62); and Czech tennis star Ivan Lendl in 1960 (age 47).

On this date in history:

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea via Egypt.

In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, an estimated 3,000 men rioted at the Detroit plant of the Ford Motor Company. Four were killed.

In 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered Nazi troops into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1945, the U.S. 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen in Germany. The bridge was the only one across the Rhine that had not been destroyed. World War II ended in Europe two months later.

In 1984, the Senate confirmed William Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican in 117 years.

In 1997, a U.S. veto killed an otherwise unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution condemning new Jewish settlements in Arab East Jerusalem.

In 2002, More than 600 people were reported dead after several days of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat, India.

In 2003, North Korea set up a "sea exclusion zone" in the Sea of Japan through March 11, aimed at keeping vessels out of the area while Pyongyang conducted a test of its newest cruise missile.

In 2004, after repeated failures and missed deadlines, the Iraqi governing council signed an interim constitution.

Also in 2004, V. Gene Robinson, openly gay and controversial, became the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire.

In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush nominated John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

In 2006, U.S. prosecutors sought the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Also in 2006, a Brookings Institution report said the racial makeup of the United States is changing with white populations diminishing in major cities and non-whites moving where the jobs are.

A thought for the day: Franklin D. Roosevelt advised, "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."