UPI Almanac for Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Today is Tuesday, March 31, the 91st day of 2020 with 275 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 Pope Pius IV in 1499; French philosopher Rene Descartes in 1596; Pope Benedict XIV in 1675; German composer Johann Sebastian Bach in 1685; Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn in 1732; poet Edward FitzGerald in 1809; boxer Jack Johnson, the first African American to hold the heavyweight title, in 1878; actor/singer Richard Kiley in 1922; United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez in 1927; actor William Daniels in 1927 (age 93); hockey Hall of Fame member Gordie Howe in 1928; fashion designer Liz Claiborne in 1929; author John Jakes in 1932 (age 88); actor Shirley Jones in 1934 (age 86); actor Richard Chamberlain in 1934 (age 86); trumpeter/bandleader/music entrepreneur Herb Alpert in 1935 (age 85); political commentator Michael Savage in 1942 (age 78); actor Christopher Walken in 1943 (age 77); actor Gabe Kaplan in 1945 (age 75); actor Rhea Perlman in 1948 (age 72); former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 1948 (age 72); actor/former football player Ed Marinaro in 1950 (age 70); guitarist Angus Young in 1955 (age 65); actor Ewan McGregor in 1971 (age 49); actor Kate Micucci in 1980 (age 40); rocker Jack Antonoff in 1984 (age 36).

On this date in history:

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by its designer, Gustave Eiffel, during the Universal Exhibition of Arts and Manufacturers.

In 1906, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association) was established.

In 1918, daylight saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

In 1948, the U.S. Congress passed the Marshall Aid Act, a plan to rehabilitate war-ravaged Europe.

In 1954, the U.S. Air Force Academy was established at Colorado Springs.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India.

In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced he wouldn't seek re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the deaths of 22 Vietnamese civilians in what was called the My Lai Massacre. Public opinion polls and news reports indicated that most Americans believed the sentence was too severe; many said Calley was a scapegoat. His sentence was gradually reduced and he was paroled in 1974.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact formally ended, with Soviet commanders surrendering their powers in an agreement between pact members and the Soviet Union.

In 1995, Major League Baseball players went back to work, ending the longest strike in league history. The lockout, which began Aug. 12, 1994, ended the rest of the 1994 season.

In 1998, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose an arms embargo on Yugoslavia after unrest in the Serbian province of Kosovo turned violent.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo, a 41-year-old Florida woman in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, died 14 days after removal of her feeding tube amid a legal struggle over her fate that reached the White House and Supreme Court.

In 2007, Pakistan successfully tested its Hataf-II Abdali ballistic missile, believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

In 2017, mudslides killed more than 200 people after heavy rains in Colombia.

In 2019, rapper Nipsey Hussle died in a shooting outside his Los Angeles clothing store.

A thought for the day: "Here is the truth: The Earth is round, Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11, Elvis is dead, Obama was born in the United States -- and the climate crisis is real." -- U.S. Vice President Al Gore