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The almanac

By United Press International
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

Today is Saturday, March 15, the 74th day of 2014 with 291 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, in 1767; German immunologist Emil von Behring in 1854; actors Macdonald Carey in 1913 and Joe E. Ross in 1915; trumpet virtuoso and bandleader Harry James in 1916; football Hall of Fame member Norm Van Brocklin in 1926; Apollo astronaut Alan Bean in 1932 (age 82); U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1933 (age 81); actor Judd Hirsch and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, both in 1935 (age 79); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) in 1940 (age 74), Mike Love (Beach Boys) in 1941 (age 73) and Sly Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) in 1944 (age 70); musician Ry Cooder in 1947 (age 67); rock musician Dee Snider in 1955 (age 59); actor Park Overall in 1957 (age 57); model Fabio Lanzoni in 1959 (age 55); singers Terence Trent D'Arby in 1962 (age 52) and Bret Michaels in 1963 (age 51); and actor Eva Longoria and singer wil.i.am (born William Adams), both in 1975 (age 39).

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On this date in history:

In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and others in Rome.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the New World.

In 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise between the North and South, Maine was admitted into the Union as the 23rd state. It had been administered as a province of Massachusetts since 1647.

In 1916, U.S. Army General John "Black Jack" Pershing led an expedition into Mexico to capture revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, who had staged several cross-border raids. (The two-year expedition was unsuccessful.)

In 1984, the acquittal of a police officer on charges of negligently killing a youth sparked a rampage by angry African-Americans in Miami. About 550 people were arrested.

In 1985, two decades of military rule in Brazil ended with the installation of a civilian government.

In 1990, the Israeli Knesset brought down Yitzhak Shamir's government on a no-confidence motion after the Likud Party leader refused to accept a U.S. peace proposal.

In 1991, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic declared Serbia's secession from the Yugoslav federation.

In 2003, health officials said a strange new illness with pneumonia-like symptoms called severe acute respiratory syndrome -- SARS -- was spreading from Asia to Europe to North America.

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In 2004, astronomers reported finding an object with a diameter of 800 to 1,100 miles circling the sun far beyond the orbit of any known planet. It was dubbed a "planetoid."

In 2007, Palestinian leaders of Hamas and Fatah agreed to a coalition government but their platform didn't recognize Israel or renounce violence.

In 2008, a 19-story industrial crane collapsed on the East Side of New York's Manhattan, demolishing an apartment building and other structures. Four construction workers were killed and 13 others injured.

In 2009, Venezuelan voters abolished presidential term limits, which had restricted a president to two six-year terms.

In 2012, the Taliban in Afghanistan suspended preliminary peace negotiations with the United States, blaming unwanted U.S. efforts to include Afghan leaders in the talks.

In 2013, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said he now endorses same-sex marriage, a "new perspective" brought on after his son revealed in 2011 that he is gay.


A thought for the day: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an interviewer, "The emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control."

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