UPI Almanac for Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Today is Wednesday, March 15, the 74th day of 2017 with 291 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, in 1767; German immunologist Emil von Behring in 1854; actor Macdonald Carey in 1913; actor Joe E. Ross in 1915; trumpet virtuoso/bandleader Harry James in 1916; football Hall of Fame member Norm Van Brocklin in 1926; Apollo astronaut Alan Bean in 1932 (age 85); U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1933 (age 84); actor Judd Hirsch in 1935 (age 82); televangelist Jimmy Swaggart in 1935 (age 82); musician Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) in 1940 (age 77); singer/songwriter Mike Love (Beach Boys) in 1941 (age 76); musician Sly Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) in 1944 (age 73); musician Ry Cooder in 1947 (age 70); musician Dee Snider in 1955 (age 62); actor Park Overall in 1957 (age 60); model Fabio Lanzoni in 1959 (age 58); singer Terence Trent D'Arby in 1962 (age 55); singer Bret Michaels in 1963 (age 56); actor Eva Longoria in 1975 (age 42); singer wil.i.am (born William Adams) in 1975 (age 42); actor Jai Courtney in 1986 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and others in Rome.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the New World.

In 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise between the North and South, Maine was admitted into the Union as the 23rd state. It had been administered as a province of Massachusetts since 1647.

In 1916, U.S. Army General John "Black Jack" Pershing led an expedition into Mexico to capture revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, who had staged several cross-border raids. The two-year expedition was unsuccessful.

In 1939, German troops, occupying the Czech provinces in the name of Adolf Hitler, entered Prague in triumph to the hisses and catcalls of the people, who sang the Czech national anthem.

In 1965, in response to the violence witnessed in Selma, Ala., President Lyndon Johnson, in an address to Congress, proclaims that "We shall overcome," calling for voting rights for all.

In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first, and only, president of the Soviet Union.

In 2003, Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as president of China.

In 2007, Palestinian leaders of Hamas and Fatah agreed to a coalition government but their platform didn't recognize Israel or renounce violence.

In 2008, a 19-story industrial crane collapsed on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, crashing into an apartment building and other structures. Seven people were killed and more than 20 injured.

In 2011, protesters marched on the Syrian capital of Damascus calling for democratic reforms. Syrian security forces opened fire on the demonstrations. The uprisings, which spread across the country, were met with force, and by the end of May, more than 1,000 people had been killed by security forces.

A thought for the day: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an interviewer, "The emphasis must be not on the right to abortion but on the right to privacy and reproductive control."