The almanac

Today is Tuesday, March 10, the 69th day of 2009 with 296 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Italian scientist Marcello Malpighi in 1628; actor Barry Fitzgerald in 1888; French composer Arthur Honegger in 1892; jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke in 1903; poet Margaret Fishback in 1904; playwright David Rabe and actor Chuck Norris, both in 1940 (age 69); Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, and journalist Bob Greene, both in 1947 (age 62); actresses Sharon Stone in 1958 (age 51) and Jasmine Guy ("A Different World") in 1964 (age 45) and Britain's Prince Edward in 1964 (age 45).

On this date in history:

In 515 B.C., the rebuilding of the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem was completed.

In 1862, the U.S. Treasury issued the first American paper money, in denominations from $5 to $1,000.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant in the next room. "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."

In 1880, the Salvation Army of the United States was founded in New York City.

In 1945, 300 U.S. bombers dropped almost 2,000 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo, destroying large portions of the Japanese capital and killing 100,000 people.

In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

In 1987, the Vatican condemned human artificial fertilization or generation of human life outside the womb and said all reproduction must result from the "act of conjugal love."

In 1991, former prisoners of war held by Iraq returned to the United States to a hero's welcome.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton got sweeping Southern victories in the Super Tuesday primaries.

In 1993, FBI agents arrested a third person, a 25-year-old Kuwaiti-born chemical engineer, in connection with the World Trade Center bombing.

Also in 1993, an anti-abortion demonstrator fatally shot a doctor at a Pensacola, Fla., clinic.

In 1994, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of new AIDS cases in the United States had more than doubled in 1993.

In 1997, The Citadel announced that 10 male cadets had been disciplined for mistreating two female cadets. The women later resigned from the South Carolina military academy.

In 1998, Indonesian President Suharto was elected to a seventh term.

In 2003, The Palestinian Legislative Council created the position of prime minister but peace talks with Israel continued under the command of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Also in 2003, Cote d'Ivoire, torn by civil war for six months, got a new premier, Seydou Diarra, under a French-brokered peace accord.

In 2004, Lee Boyd Malvo, 19, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the 10 Washington-area sniper killings in 2002. His partner, John Allen Muhammad, considered the mastermind, was sentenced to death one day earlier.

In 2005, former U.S. President Bill Clinton underwent surgery to remove scar tissue and fluid from his chest. He had quadruple bypass surgery five months earlier.

Also in 2005, a suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and injured 27 at a funeral procession in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

In 2006, the body of Tom Fox, a kidnapped U.S. Christian peace activist, was found near Baghdad, authorities report. Three others kidnapped with Fox were reported released.

Also in 2006, amid broad U.S. opposition, Dubai Ports World bowed out of an agreement to manage six U.S. ports on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The matter would be turned over to a U.S. company, officials said.

In 2007, captured terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed, long suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was reported to have confessed that he did plan them and played a role in about 30 other attacks and plots.

Also in 2007, United States and Iranian diplomats met in Baghdad in a conference called by Iraqi leaders to seek help in ending the violence there.

And, a federal court threw out a District of Columbia ban on keeping handguns in private homes as unconstitutional.

In 2008, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a former crusading state attorney general against white collar crime, was pressured to resign after being implicated in a high-priced prostitution ring.

Also in 2008, some 400 Buddhist monks took part in a protest march in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to mark the failed uprising of 1959 that resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing to India. As Chinese forces moved in, what had been a peaceful gathering turned violent.

A thought for the day: Dr. Karl Menninger said, "Love cures people -- both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it."