UPI Almanac for Thursday, March 17, 2016

Today is Thursday, March 17, the 77th day of 2016 with 289 to follow.

This is St. Patrick's Day.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, inventor of the gasoline-burning internal combustion engine, in 1834; children's author and illustrator Kate Greenaway in 1846; composer Alfred Newman in 1900; golf legend Bobby Jones in 1902; football Hall of Fame member Sammy Baugh in 1914; singer/pianist Nat King Cole in 1919; ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in 1938; rock musician Paul Kantner in 1941; writer William Gibson in 1948 (age 68); actor Patrick Duffy in 1949 (age 67); actor Kurt Russell in 1951 (age 65); actor Lesley-Anne Down in 1954 (age 62); actor Gary Sinise in 1955 (age 61); actor Vicki Lewis in 1960 (age 56); actor Rob Lowe in 1964 (age 52); singer-songwriter Billy Corgan in 1967 (age 49); soccer star Mia Hamm in 1972 (age 44); Caroline Corr of the Irish pop band The Corrs in 1973 (age 43); actor John Boyega in 1992 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1762, New York City staged its first parade honoring the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It was led by Irish soldiers serving in the British army.

In 1776, the Continental Army under Gen. George Washington forced British troops to evacuate Boston.

In 1901, 71 paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris and caused a sensation across the art world.

In 1917, Russia appeared headed toward a republic following the end of the 300-year-old rule of the Romanoff family.

In 1958, the U.S. Navy launched the satellite Vanguard 1 into orbit around Earth.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India.

In 1969, Golda Meir, a 70-year-old former Milwaukee schoolteacher, was elected first female prime minister of Israel.

In 1974, the oil-producing Arab countries agreed to lift a five-month embargo on petroleum sales to the United States. The embargo, during which gasoline prices soared 300 percent, was in retaliation for U.S. support of Israel during the October 1973 Middle East War.

In 1992, South African whites, by a margin of 68.7 percent to 31.2 percent, voted to end minority rule.

In 2003, as war with Iraq seemed a certainty, U.S. President George W. Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave the country. The ultimatum was rejected.

In 2012, John Demjanjuk, 91, onetime Ohio autoworker, died in Germany where, in 2011, he was convicted of assisting in mass murder as a Nazi death camp guard during World War II.

In 2013, a judge found two Steubenville, Ohio, teenage football players guilty of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl.

A thought for the day: "I never liked being called the 'most-decorated' soldier. There were so many guys who should have gotten medals and never did -- guys who were killed." -- Audie Murphy