The almanac

Today is Monday, March 3, the 62nd day of 2014 with 303 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 English poet Edmund Waller in 1606; industrialist George Pullman, inventor of the railway sleeping car, in 1831; telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1847; Charles Ponzi, convicted of fraud for a pyramid scheme that bears his name, in 1882; U.S. Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway in 1895; movie star Jean Harlow in 1911; "Star Trek" actor James "Scotty" Doohan in 1920; musician Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson in 1923; Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in 1933 (age 81); fashion designer Perry Ellis in 1940; author Ron Chernow in 1949 (age 65); actors Miranda Richardson in 1958 (age 56); radio show host Ira Glass in 1959 (age 55); football star Herschel Walker, 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, and Olympic gold medal heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, both in 1962 (age 52); and actors Julie Bowen in 1970 (age 44), David Faustino in 1974 (age 35) and Jessica Biel in 1982 (age 32).

On this date in history:

In 1845, Florida was admitted to the United States as the 27th state.

In 1875, "Carmen" by Georges Bizet premiered in Paris.

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

In 1923, Time magazine published its first issue.

In 1931, an act of the U.S. 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, coal miners in Britain ended a yearlong strike, the longest and costliest labor dispute in British history.

In 1986, the U.S. 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, home video captured three Los Angeles police officers beating motorist Rodney King.

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

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 2005, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 1,500.

In 2006, former U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors. (Cunningham was released from prison in 2013.)

In 2008, the U.N. Security Council adopted a third round of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

In 2010, same-sex marriages became legal in the District of Columbia.

In 2013, Mitt Romney said he hoped to continue to have some influence in the Republican Party despite his loss in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

A thought for the day: "Saying nothing sometimes says the most." -- Emily Dickinson