UPI Almanac for Saturday, March 28, 2020

Today is Saturday, March 28, the 88th day of 2020 with 278 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Roman Catholic St. Teresa of Avila in 1515; Russian author Maxim Gorky in 1868; brewer Frederick Pabst in 1836; brewer August Anheuser Busch Jr. in 1899; naturalist Marlin Perkins in 1905; Edmund Muskie, the 1968 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate, in 1914; child star Freddie Bartholomew in 1924; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter administration national security adviser, in 1928; actor Conchata Ferrell in 1943 (age 77); basketball Hall of Fame member Rick Barry in 1944 (age 76); actor Ken Howard in 1944; Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 1945 (age 75); actor Dianne Wiest in 1948 (age 72); country singer/actor Reba McEntire in 1955 (age 65); rapper Cheryl James in 1966 (age 54); actor Vince Vaughn in 1970 (age 50); actor Nick Frost in 1972 (age 48); television personality Kate Gosselin in 1975 (age 45); actor Julia Stiles in 1981 (age 39); singer Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, in 1986 (age 34); actor Laura Harrier in 1990 (age 30).

On this date in history:

In 1881, P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey merged their circuses to form The Greatest Show on Earth.

In 1939, Madrid surrendered to the nationalist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1968, the counterculture musical Hair opened on Broadway.

In 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, World War II hero and 34th president of the United States, died in Washington at age 78.

In 1979, a failure in the cooling system at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania caused a near meltdown. It was the worst accident at a U.S. civilian nuclear facility.

In 1984, Bob Irsay moved the Baltimore Colts NFL team to Indianapolis without any announcement. Less than a month later, two longtime fans of the team sued the owner for severe emotional distress.

In 1991, just days before the 10th anniversary of an attempt on his life, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan endorsed a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases, reversing his earlier opposition.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment vote by the Congress of People's Deputies.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress approved the presidential line-item veto.

In 2005, an 8.6-magnitude earthquake jolted the western coast of Sumatra, killing at least 1,300 people and destroying hundreds of buildings.

In 2006, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with ties to several members of Congress, was sentenced to six years in prison after a conviction on fraud charges. He was released from prison in 2010.

In 2009, the space shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station during which the ISS was brought up to full power with the installation of its fourth set of solar wings.

In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Afghanistan for the first time since taking office, an unannounced trip to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and address U.S. troops.

In 2018, 68 people died after a fire broke out during a riot at a police station in Valencia, Venezuela. Prisoners there set fire to a mattress in an attempt to escape.

A thought for the day: "Extremes to the right and to the left of any political dispute are always wrong." -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower