The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, March 17, the 77th day of 2004 with 289 to follow. This is St. Patrick's Day.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include German engineer Gottleib Daimler, inventor of the gasoline-burning internal combustion engine, in 1834; children's author and illustrator Kate Greenaway in 1846; golfer Bobby Jones in 1902; actress Mercedes McCambridge in 1918 (age 86); singer/pianist Nat "King" Cole in 1919; ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in 1938; actors Patrick Duffy in 1949 (age 55), Kurt Russell in 1951 (age 53), Leslie-Anne Down in 1954 (age 50), Gary Sinise in 1955 (age 49), Rob Lowe in 1964 (age 40), and Vicki Lewis in 1966 (age 38); soccer star Mia Hamm in 1972 (age 32); and Caroline Corr, of the Irish pop band The Corrs, in 1973 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1762, New York City staged the first parade honoring the Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It was led by Irish soldiers serving in the British army.

In 1776, the Continental Army under Gen. George Washington forced British troops to evacuate Boston.

In 1901, 71 paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris and caused a sensation across the art world.

In 1945, the battle against Japanese forces for the Pacific island of Iwo Jima ended in victory for the United States.

In 1958, the U.S. Navy launched the satellite Vanguard-1 into orbit around the earth.

In 1978, the tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany in France, eventually spilling some 220,000 tons of crude.

In 1991, Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed diplomatic relations broken in 1988.

In 1992, 10 people were killed and at least 126 injured in a bomb blast that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Also in 1992, South African whites voted to end minority rule.

In 1993, an Amtrak passenger train hit a gasoline tanker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., killing the tanker driver and five other people.

Also in 1993, actress Helen Hayes died at age 92.

In 1994, former President Reagan said Oliver North, who was running for a U.S. Senate seat from Virginia, lied when he said Reagan "knew everything" about the Iran-Contra operation.

In 1995, President Clinton met with Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, at the White House.

In 1997, Anthony Lake, President Clinton's nominee as director of the CIA, withdrew his name from consideration following questions about his management ability while head of the National Security Council.

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee voted to expel six members in connection with the bribery scandal related to the effort by Salt Lake City, Utah, to win the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Five other IOC members had already resigned.

In 2000, Smith & Wesson, the nation's oldest and largest maker of handguns, agreed to a wide array of restrictions in exchange for ending some lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt the company.

In 2003, as war with Iraq seemed a certainty, President George W. Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours in which to leave the country but the ultimatum was rejected. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ordered all UN personal out of Iraq.

A thought for the day: George Washington wrote, "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."