UPI Almanac for Friday, March 5, 2021

Today is Friday, March 5, the 64th day of 2021 with 301 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1512; Antoine Cadillac, founder of Detroit, in 1658; poet Lucy Larcom in 1824; author Frank Norris in 1870; actor Rex Harrison in 1908; actor Jack Cassidy in 1927; actor Paul Sand in 1932 (age 89); actor Dean Stockwell in 1936 (age 85); actor Samantha Eggar in 1939 (age 82); actor Michael Warren in 1946 (age 75); actor Marsha Warfield in 1954 (age 67); magician Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller in 1955 (age 66); journalist Ray Suarez in 1957 (age 64); singer Andy Gibb in 1958; televangelist Joel Osteen in 1963 (age 58); football Hall of Fame member Michael Irvin in 1966 (age 55); guitarist John Frusciante in 1970 (age 51); actor Matt Lucas in 1974 (age 47); actor Eva Mendes in 1974 (age 47); actor Roman Griffin Davis in 2007 (age 14).

On this date in history:

In 1770, British troops killed five colonials in the so-called Boston Massacre, one of the events that led to the American Revolution.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson was publicly inaugurated for his second term. He had a private, official inauguration a day earlier.

In 1933, in German elections, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party won nearly half the seats in the Reichstag (the Parliament).

In 1946, Winston Churchill, in a famous speech in Fulton, Mo., stated that a Soviet Union "Iron Curtain" had "descended across" Europe.

In 1953, the Soviet Union announced that dictator Joseph Stalin had died at age 73. Stalin had been in a coma after having a massive stroke four days earlier.

In 1963, Wham-O patented the hula hoop, which then became a fad across the country. The company's co-founders, Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin died in 2008 and 2002, respectively.

In 1984, the Standard Oil Co. of California, also known as Chevron, bought Gulf Corp. for more than $13 billion in the largest business merger in U.S. history at the time.

In 1993, Canada's Ben Johnson, once called the world's fastest human, tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was banned for life from track competition.

In 2011, archaeologists renovating the Rio de Janeiro harbor for the 2016 Olympics reported uncovering the remains of a 19th-century port where thousands of people arrived from Africa and were sold into slavery.

In 2013, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died at age 58 and Vice President Nicolas Maduro ascended to the presidency.

In 2014, the New York-based College Board announced plans for a major overhaul of the SAT test -- the college entrance exam -- to take effect in 2016.

In 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with South Korean officials for the first time since becoming leader. The special envoys of South Korean President Moon Jae-in were on a mission to broker denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.

In 2020, Sen. Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after failing to win a single state primary.

A thought for the day: "When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change." -- American civil rights activist Rosa Parks