On This Day in History - March 14th - Almanac

Today is Thursday, March 14, the 74th day of 2024 with 292 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sr. in 1804; Thomas Marshall, U.S. vice president under Woodrow Wilson, in 1854; Jonathan Luther Jones, railroad engineer who was the hero of the ballad "Casey Jones," in 1863; physicist Albert Einstein in 1879; cartoonist Hank Ketcham in 1920; photographer Diane Arbus in 1923; astronaut Frank Borman in 1928; actor Michael Caine in 1933 (age 91); composer Quincy Jones in 1933 (age 91); astronaut Eugene Cernan in 1934; golf Hall of Fame member Bob Charles in 1936 (age 88); singer Michael Martin Murphey in 1945 (age 79); basketball Hall of Fame member Wes Unseld in 1946; actor Steve Kanaly in 1946 (age 78); comedian Billy Crystal in 1948 (age 76); Prince Albert II of Monaco in 1958 (age 66); baseball Hall of Fame member Kirby Puckett in 1960; actor Elise Neal in 1966 (age 58); actor Gary Anthony Williams in 1966 (age 58); actor Megan Follows in 1968 (age 56); actor Betsy Brandt in 1973 (age 51); actor Grace Park in 1974 (age 50); actor Daniel Gillies in 1976 (age 48); actor Corey Stoll in 1976 (age 48); actor Chris Klein in 1979 (age 45); musician Taylor Hanson in 1983 (age 41); actor Jamie Bell in 1986 (age 38); musician Este Haim in 1986 (age 38); NBA star Stephen Curry in 1988 (age 36); actor Ansel Elgort in 1994 (age 30); U.S. Olympic gold gymnast Simone Biles in 1997 (age 27); actor Abby Ryder Fortson in 2008 (age 16).

On this date in history:

In 1794, Eli Whitney was granted a patent for the cotton gin.

In 1812, the U.S. government authorized the issue of America's first war bonds -- to pay for military equipment for use against the British.

In 1950, the FBI's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" list appeared for the first time.

In 1951, Seoul was recaptured by U.N. troops during the Korean War as part of Operation Ripper, also known as the Fourth Battle of Seoul.

In 1964, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby was convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Ruby was sentenced to death but the conviction was overturned and he died of cancer while awaiting a new trial.

In 1973, Navy pilot John McCain -- the future U.S. senator from Arizona -- and 107 other American prisoners of war were released by North Vietnam. He spent more than five years in a prison camp after his plane was shot down.

In 1991, scientists reported the discovery of the gene that triggers colon cancer.

In 1991, citing fresh evidence, a British appeals court overturned the convictions of the so-called Birmingham Six, who were sentenced to life in prison for the bombings of two pubs in 1974, the bloodiest assault by the Irish Republican Army on the British mainland. The false conviction of the six men, who were released, is seen one of the worst miscarriages of justice in modern British history.

In 2004, Vladimir Putin easily won re-election as president of Russia. He won a third term in 2012.

In 2009, Australian authorities said a 230-ton oil spill from a Hong Kong-registered freighter caused an environmental disaster along nearly 40 miles of beach off the Queensland coast.

In 2012, the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, in its first verdict as a permanent war crimes tribunal, found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of using children in war.

In 2013, Xi Jinping began his 10-year term as president of China.

In 2023, a Russia fighter jet collided with an unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing the unmanned military craft to crash into the Black Sea.

A thought for the day: "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." -- American-German physicist Albert Einstein