The almanac

Today is Wednesday, March 26, the 85th day of 2014 with 280 to follow.

The moon is waning. 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 Aries. They include poet Robert Frost in 1874; mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell in 1904; playwright Tennessee Williams in 1911; U.S. Army Gen. William Westmoreland in 1914; French composer/conductor Pierre Boulez in 1925 (age 89); former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 1930 (age 84); actors Leonard Nimoy in 1931 (age 83), Alan Arkin in 1934 (age 80) and James Caan in 1940 (age 74); author Erica Jong in 1942 (age 72); author/journalist Bob Woodward in 1943 (age 71); singers Diana Ross in 1944 (age 70) and Teddy Pendergrass in 1950; actors Vicki Lawrence in 1949 (age 65), Martin Short in 1950 (age 64), Jennifer Grey in 1960 (age 54) and Keira Knightley in 1985 (age 29); TV personality Leeza Gibbons in 1957 (age 57); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Steven Tyler in 1948 (age 66); country singer Kenny Chesney in 1968 (age 46); and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in 1940 (age 74).

On this date in history:

In 1830, the Book of Mormon was published.

In 1839, the first Henley Royal Regatta was held.

In 1953, U.S. Dr. Jonas Salk announced on a national radio show that he had successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio.

In 1971, East Pakistan achieved independence as Bangladesh.

In 1975, the city of Hue in South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese army.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty at the White House, ending 30 years of hostilities.

In 1991, Mali's dictator was overthrown in a violent overnight military coup. Fifty-nine people died.

In 1992, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison for raping a teenage beauty pageant contestant.

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious cult were found dead in a large house in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in what authorities said was a mass suicide.

In 1998, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit South Africa.

In 1999, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the euthanasia advocate, was convicted of second-degree murder in an Oakland County, Mich., courtroom for the videotaped "medicide" of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

In 2000, acting Russian President Vladimir Putin was elected president by a more than 20 percent margin.

In 2006, Ukraine's opposition Regions Party won the parliamentary elections, with former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych returning to his post under President Viktor Yushchenko.

In 2010, officials in South China said a drought had become so severe that wells dried up and 18 million people were left without drinking water.

In 2011, Japanese nuclear experts said radioactive matter was found at a concentration 1,250 times the legal limit near the drains of four reactors battered by an earthquake and tsunami but that the sea would "significantly dilute" it.

In 2013, Italy's top court ordered a retrial of American Amanda Knox and Italian Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher in Perugia. (They were again convicted of murder Jan. 20, 2014.)

A thought for the day: "In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." -- Margaret Thatcher