The almanac

Today is Tuesday, March 4, the 63rd day of 2014 with 302 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 Portuguese Prince Henry, the Navigator, in 1394; composer Antonio Vivaldi in 1678; Polish-born American patriot Casimir Pulaski in 1747; legendary Notre Dame football Coach Knute Rockne in 1888; Bridge export Charles Goren in 1901; actor John Garfield in 1913; economist Alice Rivlin in 1931 (age 83); actor/singer Barbara McNair in 1934; English auto racing champion Jimmy Clark in 1936; actor Paula Prentiss in 1938 (age 76); Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 1950 (age 64); actor Kay Lenz and musician/actor, producer Emilio Estefan, both in 1953 (age 61); and actors Catherine O'Hara in 1954 (age 60), Patricia Heaton in 1958 (age 56) and Steven Weber in 1961 (age 53); Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini in 1965 (age 49); television personality and activist Chaz Bono in 1969 (age 45).

On this date in history:

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

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

In 1791, Vermont was admitted to the United States as the 14th state.

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

In 1837, the city of Chicago was incorporated.

In 1877, "Swan Lake," a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

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

In 1933, Frances Perkins was sworn in as U.S. labor secretary, becoming the first female member of the Cabinet.

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

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

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

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

In 2005, homemaking guru Martha Stewart returned home after serving five months in a federal prison for conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators.

In 2008, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., clinched the Republican nomination for U.S. president with primary wins in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin was again elected president of Russia.

In 2013, Sylvia Mathews Burwell was nominated to be director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. (She officially moved into the position in April.)

A thought for the day: Thomas Jefferson said, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."