UPI Almanac for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Today is Tuesday, March 26, the 86th day of 2024 with 280 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include poet A. E. Housman in 1859; poet Robert Frost in 1874; fashion designer Guccio Gucci in 1881; mythologist/writer Joseph Campbell in 1904; playwright Tennessee Williams in 1911; U.S. Army Gen. William Westmoreland in 1914; French composer/conductor Pierre Boulez in 1925; former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 1930; actor Leonard Nimoy in 1931; actor Alan Arkin in 1934; actor James Caan in 1940; U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., former speaker of the House, in 1940 (age 84); author Erica Jong in 1942 (age 82); author/journalist Bob Woodward in 1943 (age 81); singer Diana Ross in 1944 (age 80); musician Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) in 1948 (age 76); actor Vicki Lawrence in 1949 (age 75); actor Martin Short in 1950 (age 74); TV personality Leeza Gibbons in 1957 (age 67); actor Jennifer Grey in 1960 (age 64); actor Eric Allan Kramer in 1962 (age 62); actor Michael Imperioli in 1966 (age 58); musician James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) in 1968 (age 56); country singer Kenny Chesney in 1968 (age 56); filmmaker Francis Lawrence in 1971 (age 53); actor Leslie Mann in 1972 (age 52); actor T.R. Knight in 1973 (age 51); actor Amy Smart in 1976 (age 48); TV journalist Margaret Brennan in 1980 (age 44); actor Jonathan Groff in 1985 (age 39); actor Keira Knightley in 1985 (age 39).

On this date in history:

In 1830, the Book of Mormon was published. There are about 200 surviving first editions of the book, one of which was stolen before being returned to its owner in 2013.

In 1953, U.S. Dr. Jonas Salk announced he had successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes polio.

In 1971, East Pakistan achieved independence as Bangladesh.

In 1975, the city of Hue in South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese army.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty at the White House, ending 30 years of hostilities.

In 1991, Mali's dictator, Gen. Moussa Traore, was overthrown in a violent overnight military coup. Fifty-nine people died.

In 1992, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, convicted of raping a teenage beauty pageant contestant, was sentenced to six years in prison. Tyson was released after three years.

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious cult were found dead in a large house in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in what authorities said was a mass suicide.

In 1998, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit South Africa.

In 1999, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the euthanasia advocate, was convicted of second-degree murder in an Oakland County, Mich., courtroom for the videotaped "medicide" of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

In 2000, acting Russian President Vladimir Putin was elected president by a more than 20 percent margin. Putin won a third term in 2012.

In 2014, a National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled that Northwestern University scholarship football players were employees of the school and entitled under federal law to form a union.

In 2020, new unemployment claims in the United States surged to 3.3. million, the largest weekly increase in U.S. history to date amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Russian missiles targeted a fuel storage depot on the outskirts of Lviv, a city where Ukraine's refugees had fled amid Russia's invasion.

A thought for the day: "We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens." -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor