On This Day in History - March 1st - Almanac

Today is Friday, March 1, the 61st day of 2024 with 305 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Polish composer Frederic Chopin in 1810; author William Dean Howells in 1837; big band leader Glenn Miller in 1904; writer Ralph Ellison in 1914; St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray in 1914; Israeli Prime Minister/Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yitzhak Rabin in 1922; Mad magazine publisher William Gaines in 1922; Donald "Deke" Slayton, one of the original Mercury astronauts, in 1924; singer Harry Belafonte in 1927; jurist Robert Bork in 1927; actor Robert Conrad in 1935; singer Roger Daltrey in 1944 (age 80); singer Mike d'Abo in 1944 (age 80); actor Alan Thicke in 1947; actor/director Ron Howard in 1954 (age 70); actor Catherine Bach in 1954 (age 70); actor Tim Daly in 1956 (age 68); explorer/psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard in 1958 (age 66); TV journalist Don Lemon in 1966 (age 58); TV personality/chef Paul Hollywood in 1966 (age 58); director Zack Snyder in 1966 (age 58); actor Javier Bardem in 1969 (age 55); filmmaker Brad Falchuk in 1971 (age 53); actor Cara Buono in 1974 (age 50); actor Mark Paul Gosselaar in 1974 (age 50); actor Jensen Ackles in 1978 (age 46); actor Lupita Nyong'o in 1983 (age 41); actor Alec Utgoff in 1986 (age 38); singer Kesha Rose Sebert in 1987 (age 37); actor Emeraude Toubia in 1989 (age 35); singer Justin Bieber in 1994 (age 30).

On this date in history:

In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was established. Rio served as the capital of Brazil from 1822 until 1960, when the government moved to Brasília in the interior.

In 1692, the notorious witch hunt began in the Salem village of the Massachusetts Bay colony, eventually resulting in the executions of 19 men and women.

In 1780, Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery.

In 1781, the American colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation, paving the way for a federal union.

In 1803, Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17th state.

In 1867, Nebraska was admitted to the union as the 37th state.

In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established by an act of Congress. It was the first area in the world to be designated a national park.

In 1932, aviator Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped. The child's body was found on May 12. Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of the kidnapping and murder and executed in 1936.

In 1953, former Soviet General-Secretary Joseph Stalin had a major stroke, from which he died four days later.

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, injuring five members of Congress.

In 1961, an executive order from U.S. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

In 1971, a bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol, causing $300,000 damage but no injuries. The Weather Underground, a leftist radical group that opposed the Vietnam War, claimed responsibility.

In 1995, the company formerly known as Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web incorporated under the name, Yahoo!

In 2003, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, was captured in Pakistan.

In 2004, an interim government took over in Haiti one day after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled into exile following a monthlong insurrection.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that execution of juvenile offenders is unconstitutional.

In 2011, the U.S. Interior Department approved the first deep-water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico since a BP offshore explosion and massive oil spill in April 2010.

In 2022, President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address that the United States planned to close off its airspace to all Russian flights in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

A thought for the day: "Painting and living have always been one and the same thing for me." - French painter Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun