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UPI Almanac for Thursday, March 12, 2015

A wave of bombings in Mumbai, teenage kidnap victim rescued in Utah, Bernard Madoff pleads guilty, explosion collapses 2 buildings in NYC ... on this date in history.

By United Press International
Smoke drifts from a fire March 13, 2014, at the scene of an explosion that collapsed two New York City buildings the previous day, killing eight people and injuring dozens of others. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 9 | Smoke drifts from a fire March 13, 2014, at the scene of an explosion that collapsed two New York City buildings the previous day, killing eight people and injuring dozens of others. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Today is Thursday, March 12, the 71st day of 2015 with 294 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mercury, Neptune and Saturn. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Uranus and Venus.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include pioneer automaker Clement Studebaker in 1831; New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs in 1858; artist Elaine de Kooning in 1918; actor/singer Gordon MacRae in 1921; novelist Jack Kerouac in 1922; Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra in 1923; writer Harry Harrison in 1925; playwright Edward Albee in 1928 (age 87); actor Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas in 1931; Southwest Airlines co-founder Herb Kelleher in 1931 (age 84); former U.N. Ambassador/Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in 1932 (age 83); actor Barbara Feldon in 1933 (age 82); Hall of Fame basketball Coach Eddie Sutton in 1936 (age 79); singer/songwriter Al Jarreau in 1940 (age 75); singer/actor Liza Minnelli in 1946 (age 69); former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 1947 (age 68); singer/songwriter James Taylor in 1948 (age 67); Jackson 5 member Marlon Jackson in 1957 (age 58); former baseball player Darryl Strawberry in 1962 (age 53); actor Aaron Eckhart in 1968 (age 47); musician Pete Doherty in 1979 (age 36).

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On this date in history:

In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scouts of America troop in Savannah, Ga.

In 1933, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the first of his Sunday evening "fireside chats" -- informal radio addresses from the White House to the American people.

In 1938, Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Austria.

In 1947, in a speech to Congress, U.S. President Harry Truman outlined what became known as the Truman Doctrine, calling for U.S. aid to countries threatened by communist revolution.

In 1963, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to grant former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill honorary U.S. citizenship.

In 1993, more than 250 people were killed and at least 700 wounded in 13 coordinated terrorist bombings in Mumbai.

In 1994, the Church of England ordained its first women priests.

In 1999, former Soviet allies Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic joined NATO.

In 2002, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, speaking after Israeli raids killed 31 Palestinians, declared that Israel must end its "illegal occupation" of Palestinian land.

In 2003, Elizabeth Smart, 15, who had been kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home in June 2002, was found in the custody of a panhandler and his wife in nearby Sandy, Utah.

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In 2008, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned after being caught in a high-priced prostitution scandal.

In 2009, admitted Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, accused of defrauding thousands of clients of billions of dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme over 20 years, pleaded guilty to 11 felonies. Madoff apologized to his victims: "I am painfully aware that I have deeply hurt many, many people ... I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done." (He was later given a 150-year prison sentence.)

In 2012, after days of violence, Palestinian and Israeli authorities agreed to a truce, an agreement reached with the help of Egyptian mediators.

In 2013, Steven Ray Thacker, 42, who killed three people during a crime spree in three states was executed in Oklahoma.

In 2014, an explosion caused by a gas leak knocked down two apartment buildings in New York City's East Harlem, killing eight people and injuring ddozens of others.


A thought for the day: "I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell." -- Harry S. Truman

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