The Almanac

Today is Sunday, March 31, the 90th day of 2002 with 275 to follow.

This is Easter Sunday.

The moon is waning, moving toward its last quarter.

The morning star is Mercury.

The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include French philosopher Rene Descartes in 1596; Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn in 1732; German chemist Robert Bunsen, inventor of the Bunsen gas burner, in 1811; boxer Jack Johnson, the first black to hold the heavyweight title, in 1878; comedian Henry Morgan in 1915; actor/singer Richard Kiley in 1922; author and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia in 1925; United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez in 1927; actor William Daniels, also in 1927 (age 75); Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe in 1928 (age 74); fashion designer Liz Claiborne in 1929 (age 73); author John Jakes in 1932 (age 70); actress Shirley Jones in 1934 (age 68); bandleader Herb Alpert in 1935 (age 67); actors Richard Chamberlain in 1935 (age 67), Christopher Walken in 1943 (age 59), Gabe Kaplan in 1946 (age 56), and Rhea Perlman in 1948 (age 54); former Vice President Al Gore Jr. also in 1948 (age 54); and actors Ed Marinaro in 1950 (age 52) and Ewan McGregor in 1971 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris for the Universal Exhibition of Arts and Manufacturers.

In 1948, Congress passed the Marshall Aid Act, a plan to rehabilitate war-ravaged Europe.

In 1954, the U.S. Air Force Academy was established at Colorado Springs, Colo.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India.

In 1968, President Johnson announced he would not seek re-election and simultaneously ordered suspension of American bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1971, Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the deaths of 22 Vietnamese civilians in what was called the "My Lai" massacre.

In 1987, the State Department ordered home all 28 remaining U.S. Marine guards at the Moscow embassy after two Marines were charged with espionage.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact formally ended as Soviet commanders surrendered their powers in an agreement between pact members and the Soviet Union.

In 1992, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose air traffic and weapons sanctions against Libya for not surrendering six men wanted by the United States, Britain, France in the bombings of an American jetliner and a French plane.

In 1994, a state of emergency was declared in the South African Zulu homeland of KwaZulu following deadly fighting in the weeks before the country's first universal-suffrage elections.

Also in 1994, the PLO resumed talks with Israel on the implementation of Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories.

In 1995, a federal judge ordered major league baseball owners to reinstate the contract that was in effect before the players' strike began.

In 1998, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose an arms embargo on Yugoslavia after unrest in the Serbian province of Kosovo turned violent.

In 1999, as the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia continued, three U.S. soldiers -- members of the peacekeeping forces in Macedonia in the process of withdrawing -- were captured by Serb troops near the Yugoslav-Macedonia border.

In 2001, Serbian police and security forces attempted to arrest former President Slobodan Milosevic at his home in Belgrade on charges of corruption while in office. Supporters massed at the compound prevented entry by government forces, sparking a stand-off that lasted until the next day, when Milosevic was taken into custody peacefully.

A thought for the day: J.W. Fulbright said, "In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects."