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The almanac

By United Press International
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

Today is Saturday, March 1, the 60th day of 2014 with 305 to follow.

The moon is new. 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 Polish composer Frederic Chopin in 1810; author William Dean Howells in 1837; big band leader Glenn Miller in 1904; actor David Niven in 1910; writer Ralph Ellison and St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray, both in 1914; poet Robert Lowell in 1917; Israeli Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yitzhak Rabin and Mad magazine publisher William Gaines, both in 1922; Donald "Deke" Slayton, one of the original Mercury astronauts, in 1924; NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1926; singer Harry Belafonte (age 87) and jurist Robert Bork, both in 1927; actors Robert Conrad in 1935 (age 79) and Alan Thicke in 1947 (age 67); Rock and Roll Hal of Fame member Roger Daltrey (The Who) and Mike d'Abo of Manfred Mann, both in 1944 (age 70); actor and director Ron Howard in 1954 (age 60); actors Catherine Bach in 1954 (age 60) and Tim Daly in 1956 (age 58); and singers Ke$ha in 1987 (age 27) and Justin Bieber in 1994 (age 20).

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On this date in history:

In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was established.

In 1692, the notorious witch hunt began in the Salem village of the Massachusetts Bay colony, eventually resulting in the executions of 19 men and women.

In 1780, Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery.

In 1781, the American colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation, paving the way for a federal union.

In 1803, Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17th state.

In 1867, Nebraska was admitted to the union as the 37th state.

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established by an act of Congress. It was the first area in the world to be designated a national park.

In 1932, aviator Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped. (The boy's body was found May 12 and Bruno Hauptmann was executed for the crime in 1936.)

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress.

In 1961, an executive order from U.S. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

In 1971, a bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol, causing $300,000 damage but no injuries. The Weather Underground, a leftist radical group that opposed the Vietnam War, claimed responsibility.

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In 1991, after 23 years of insurgency in Colombia, the Popular Liberation Army put down its arms in exchange for two seats in the National Assembly.

In 2003, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, was captured in Pakistan.

In 2004, an interim government took over in Haiti after a monthlong insurrection, one day after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that execution of juvenile offenders is unconstitutional.

In 2007, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who served as an adviser in the Kennedy administration, died at age 89.

In 2011, the U.S. Interior Department approved the first deep-water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico since a BP offshore explosion and massive oil spill in April 2010.

In 2013, U.S. authorities said smugglers were using air-powered cannons in Mexico to blast drugs over the border into the United States.


A thought for the day: "Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week." -- William Dean Howells

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