Today is Friday, March 24, the 83rd day of 2017 with 282 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Venus. Evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars.
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On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 10.9 million gallons (259,500 barrels) of its 53 million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. The oil would eventually impact more than 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska, making the Exxon Valdez the largest oil spill in U.S. waters at the time. File Photo courtesy NOAA
Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include financier Andrew Mellon in 1855; magician and escape artist Harry Houdini in 1874; silent film star Fatty Arbuckle in 1887; Baseball Hall of Fame member George Sisler in 1893; pioneer Disney film animator Ub Iwerks in 1901; Republican U.S. presidential candidate Thomas Dewey in 1902; notorious bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1909; poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1919 (age 98); actor Norman Fell in 1924; actor Steve McQueen in 1930; dress designer Bob Mackie in 1940 (age 77); musician Nick Lowe in 1949 (age 68); fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger in 1951 (age 66); comedian Louie Anderson in 1953 (age 64); actor Robert Carradine in 1954 (age 63); actor Donna Pescow in 1954 (age 63); actor/model Kelly LeBrock in 1960 (age 57); television personality Star Jones in 1962 (age 55); actor Lara Flynn Boyle in 1970 (age 47); actor Megyn Price in 1971 (age 46); pro football star Peyton Manning in 1976 (age 41); actor Jessica Chastain in 1977 (age 40).
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On this date in history:
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In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England died after 44 years of rule. She was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland, uniting England and Scotland under a single British monarch.
In 1934, the United States granted independence to the Philippine Islands, effective July 4, 1946.
In 1975, the beaver became the official symbol of Canada.
In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil in the largest oil tanker spill in U.S. history.
In 1998, four girls and a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., were killed by bullets fired from a nearby wooded area. The shooters were two boys, ages 11 and 13, who were convicted as juveniles and served prison time.
In 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that coalition forces were well on their way to Baghdad, and victory in Iraq was "certain" despite some "anxious moments" ahead.
In 2004, the European Commission fined software giant Microsoft $613 million for EU antitrust violations.
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In 2012, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, 71, underwent heart transplant surgery at a hospital in Falls Church, Va.
In 2014, a court in Minya, Egypt sentenced 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death on charges including murder and attempted murder. Most of the suspects were tried in absentia.
In 2015, a Germanwings plane carrying 150 people, including German high school students, crashed in the French Alps in southern France.
A thought for the day: Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
