The Almanac

Today is Thursday, March 3, the 62nd day of 2005 with 303 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include English poet Edmund Waller in 1606; industrialist George Pullman, inventor of the railway sleeping car, in 1831; telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1847; U.S. Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway in 1895; movie star Jean Harlow in 1911; "Star Trek" actor James Doohan in 1920 (age 85); Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in 1933 (age 72); former football star Herschel Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, and Olympic gold medal heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, both in 1962 (age 43); and actors David Faustino ("Married...With Children") in 1974 (age 31) and Jessica Biel ("7th Heaven") in 1982 (age 23).

On this date in history:

In 1879, attorney Belva Ann Lockwood became the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1931, an act of Congress designated "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States.

In 1974, a Turkish jetliner crashed near Paris, killing 345 people.

In 1985, British coal miners ended their yearlong strike, the longest and costliest labor dispute in British history.

In 1986, the President's Commission on Organized Crime, ending a 32-month investigation, called for drug testing of most working Americans, including all federal employees.

In 1991, a home video captured three Los Angeles police officers beating motorist Rodney King.

Also in 1991, a United Boeing 737 jet crashed in Colorado Springs, Colo., killing all 25 people aboard.

And in 1991, residents of the Soviet republics of Latvia and Estonia voted overwhelmingly for independence.

In 1993, Dr. Albert Sabin, the medical pioneer who helped conquer polio, died at his home of heart failure at age 86.

In 1995, the last United Nations peacekeepers left Somalia.

Also in 1995, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado switched from the Democratic to Republican Party.

In 1996, another bus bombing in Jerusalem killed 19 people.

In 1997, Vice President Gore admitted he sometimes made fund-raising calls from the White House but said he'd been advised there was no law against it.

Also in 1997, former CIA official Harold Nicholson pleaded guilty to spying for Russia. He was sentenced to 23 years and seven months in prison.

In 1999, an estimated 70 million people tuned in to watch Monica Lewinsky's taped TV interview with Barbara Walters.

In 2001, foot-and-mouth disease, which had already flared in Britain, was reported in Europe, where livestock at two farms in France and Belgium were quarantined.

In 2002, violence continued through the early days of March in the Middle East as attacks and retaliations took a heavy toll on Israelis and Palestinians.

In 2003, U.S. officials reported getting information that militants linked to the al-Qaida network had targeted U.S. military facilities in Pearl Harbor, including nuclear-powered submarines and ships. However, nothing came of the report.

In 2004, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers pleaded innocent to an indictment on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. The company's 2002 bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history.

A thought for the day: Edmund Waller wrote, "Poets that lasting marble seek / Must come in Latin or in Greek."

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Today is Friday, March 4, the 63rd day of 2005 with 302 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include composer Antonio Vivaldi in 1678; Polish-born American patriot Casimir Pulaski in 1747; Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne in 1888; actor John Garfield in 1913; anthropologist Jane Goodall and actress/singer Barbara McNair, both in 1934 (age 71); English auto racing champion Jimmy Clark in 1936; actress Paula Prentiss in 1939 (age 66); singer Mary Wilson, formerly with the Supremes, in 1944 (age 61); actress Kay Lenz in 1953 and musician/producer Emilio Estefan, both in 1953 (age 52); and actors Catherine O'Hara in 1954 (age 51) and Steven Weber in 1961 (age 44).

On this date in history:

In 1681, to satisfy a debt, England's King Charles II granted a royal charter, deed and governorship of Pennsylvania to William Penn.

In 1789, the U.S. Congress met for the first time, in New York City.

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.

In 1917, Jeanette Rankin, a Montana Republican, was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives and became the first woman to serve in Congress.

In 1958, the U.S. atomic submarine Nautilus reached the North Pole by passing beneath the Arctic ice cap.

In 1987, in a nationwide address, President Reagan acknowledged his administration swapped arms to Iran for U.S. hostages and said, "It was a mistake."

In 1990, the shuttle Atlantis landed safely after depositing in orbit a secret military satellite that was later reported to have failed.

In 1991, the first allied prisoners of war were released as Iraq began complying with the terms of the official U.N. cease-fire.

In 1992, a Virginia fertility specialist was convicted of fraud and perjury for using his own sperm in the artificial insemination of his patients.

In 1993, a Muslim fundamentalist arrested in the World Trade Center bombing appeared in Manhattan federal court.

Also in 1993, a $69 million class-action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco against the U.S. government by 8,600 Amerasian children who claimed their U.S. military fathers abandoned them in the Philippines.

And in 1993, a Virginia boy who sawed off his hand while earning $4 an hour sued his parents for $2 million for letting him use a circular saw.

In 1994, four men were found guilty in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

In 1996, a bombing at a shopping mall in Tel Aviv, Israel, killed 14 people, including the bombers.

In 1997, for the third time in as many years, the Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget.

In 1999, a U.S. Marine pilot whose plane had snapped a ski-lift cable high in Italy, killing 20 people, was acquitted of charges of involuntary homicide and manslaughter.

Also in 1999, "Monica's Story," former White House intern Monica Lewinsky's take on her affair with President Clinton, hit bookshelves nationwide.

In 2002, after more than 40 people died violently in a week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he aimed to kill as many Palestinians as possible to force them to negotiate

In 2003, Philippine authorities blamed two bombings on the island of Mindanao on Islamic separatists. Twenty-two people, including an American missionary, were killed and 150 injured in one blast and one died and three were hurt in the other.

In 2004, as U.S. Marines mobilized and patrolled the streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, rebel forces proclaiming themselves Haiti's reinvented military after the president fled said they would lay down their weapons.

A thought for the day: Thomas Jefferson said, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."