The almanac

Today is Sunday, March 2, the 61st day of 2014 with 304 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include statesman DeWitt Clinton, chief sponsor of the Erie Canal project, in 1769; Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas, in 1793; Pope Leo XIII in 1810; journalist, politician and reformer Carl Schurz in 1829; Pope Pius XII in 1876; publisher Max Schuster in 1897; German composer Kurt Weill in 1900; baseball player and World War II-era spy Moe Berg in 1902; children's author "Dr. Seuss," Theodor Geisel, in 1904; baseball Hall of Fame member Mel Ott in 1909; entertainer Desi Arnaz in 1917; actors Jennifer Jones in 1919 and John Cullum in 1930 (age 84); former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and writer Tom Wolfe, both in 1931 (age 83); basketball Hall of Fame member Denny Crum in 1937 (age 77); author John Irving (age 72) and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Lou Reed, both in 1942; Irish musician Rory Gallagher in 1948; singer Karen Carpenter in 1950; comedian Laraine Newman in 1952 (age 62), rock singer Jon Bon Jovi in 1962 (age 52); actor Daniel Craig in 1968 (age 46), musician Chris Martin in 1977 (age 37); and NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in 1982 (age 32).

On this date in history:

In 1836, Texas proclaimed independence from Mexico.

In 1925, the first system of interstate highway numbering was introduced in the United States.

In 1933, the movie "King Kong" premiered in New York.

In 1945, units of the U.S. 9th Army reached the Rhine River opposite Dusseldorf, Germany.

In 1949, a U.S. Air Force plane piloted by Capt. James Gallagher completed the first non-stop around-the-world flight in just over 94 hours.

In 1962, Philadelphia's Wilt Chamberlain set the single-game NBA scoring record with 100 points against the New York Knicks.

In 1991, Yugoslavian troops were sent to Croatia to protect Serbs after violence erupted between Croatian security forces and villagers.

In 2000, a longtime political fundraiser for U.S. Vice President Al Gore was convicted for arranging more than $100,000 in illegal donations in 1996.

In 2004, at least 125 people died in explosions at two Shiite shrines in Iraq.

In 2007, U.S. Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey announced his resignation amid charges of poor conditions for patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

In 2008, outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin's choice as his successor, Dmitri Medvedev, was elected president in a landslide. Putin remained in power as prime minister.

In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that an anti-gay Kansas church had a constitutional right to stage a peaceful protest at the funeral of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq.

In 2013, U.S. Marines Gen. Joseph Dunford, head of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, apologized for the killing of two young children mistaken for insurgents during an airstrike. "I am committed to ensuring we do the right thing for the families of those we harmed, as well as for the community in which they lived," Dunford said. "We take full responsibility for this tragedy."

A thought for the day: "Americans have a severe disease -- worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex." -- Mikhail Gorbachev