UPI Almanac for Sunday, March 24, 2024

Today is Sunday, March 24, the 84th day of 2024 with 282 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 Aries. They include financier Native American rights activist/suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage in 1826; Andrew Mellon in 1855; magician/escape artist Harry Houdini in 1874; silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in 1887; Baseball Hall of Fame member George Sisler in 1893; pioneer Disney film animator Ubbe "Ub" Iwerks in 1901; Republican U.S. presidential candidate Thomas Dewey in 1902; notorious bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1909; Black American and women's rights activist Dorothy Height in 1912; poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1919; actor Steve McQueen in 1930; TV personality Mary Berry, born Mary Hunnings, in 1935 (age 89); dress designer Bob Mackie in 1940 (age 84); musician Nick Lowe in 1949 (age 75); musician Dougie Thomson (Supertramp) in 1951 (age 73); fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger in 1951 (age 73); comedian Louie Anderson in 1953; actor Robert Carradine in 1954 (age 70); actor Donna Pescow in 1954 (age 70); actor/model Kelly LeBrock in 1960 (age 64); television personality Star Jones in 1962 (age 62); WWE wrestler The Undertaker, born Mark William Calaway, in 1965 (age 59); actor Peter Jacobson in 1965 (age 59); actor Lara Flynn Boyle in 1970 (age 54); musician Sharon Corr (The Corrs) in 1970 (age 54); musician Vincent Mason (De La Soul) in 1970 (age 54); comedian Tig Notaro in 1971 (age 53); actor Megyn Price in 1971 (age 53); actor Jim Parsons in 1973 (age 51); actor Lauren Bowles in 1973 (age 51); actor Alyson Hannigan in 1974 (age 50); Football Hall of Fame member Peyton Manning in 1976 (age 48); actor Jessica Chastain in 1977 (age 47); actor Amanda Brugel in 1978 (age 46); actor Lake Bell in 1979 (age 45); musician Benj Gershman (O.A.R.) in 1980 (age 44); TV personality/dancer Val Chmerkovskiy in 1986 (age 38); actor Finn Jones in 1988 (age 36).

On this date in history:

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England died after 44 years of rule. She was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland, uniting England and Scotland under a single British monarch.

In 1934, the United States granted independence to the Philippine Islands, effective July 4, 1946.

In 1975, the beaver became the official symbol of Canada.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil in the largest oil tanker spill in U.S. history.

In 1998, four girls and a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., were killed by bullets fired from a nearby wooded area. The shooters were two boys, ages 11 and 13, who were convicted as juveniles and served prison time.

In 1999, NATO airstrikes hit military targets across the Yugoslav union of Serbia-Montenegro after ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against Kosovar Albanians.

In 2004, the European Commission fined software giant Microsoft $613 million for EU antitrust violations.

In 2012, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, 71, underwent heart transplant surgery at a hospital in Falls Church, Va.

In 2015, a Germanwings plane carrying 150 people, including German high school students, crashed in the French Alps in southern France. Everyone on board died.

In 2018, student activists pushed for an end to gun violence in the March for Our Lives protests across the country less than two months after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Fla., left 17 people dead.

In 2023, a powerful EF4 tornado touched down in Rolling Fork, Miss., and continued on into Silver City, Miss. The tornado -- one of many in a four-day outbreak of twisters -- remained on the ground for more than an hour, killing 17 people and injuring dozens of others.

A thought for the day: "Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals." - American activist Dorothy Height