The almanac

Today is Wednesday, March 10, the 69th day of 2010 with 296 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Neptune and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Saturn 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 1900; assassin James Earl Ray in 1928; playwright David Rabe and actor Chuck Norris, both in 1940 (age 70); college basketball coach Jim Valvano in 1946; Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, and journalist Bob Greene, both in 1947 (age 63); al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 1957 (age 53); actors Sharon Stone in 1958 (age 52) and Jasmine Guy in 1964 (age 46); Olympic gold medal gymnasts Mitch Gaylord in 1961 (age 49) and Shannon Miller in 1977 (age 33); Britain's Prince Edward in 1964 (age 45); rapper Timbaland in 1971 (age 39); and country singer Carrie Underwood in 1983 (age 27).

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 1977, astronomers discovered rings around Uranus.

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 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 rights 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, Ivory Coast, torn by civil war for six months, got a new premier, Seydou Diarra, under a French-brokered peace accord.

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, confessed to planning them and said he played a role in about 30 other attacks and plots.

Also in 2007, 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.

In 2009, a rural Alabama man, identified as Michael McLendon, erupted on a shooting spree, killing at least 10 people, including his parents and several other family members before killing himself.

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