UPI Almanac for Friday, March 29, 2024

Today is Friday, March 29, the 89th day of 2024 with 277 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 John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, in 1790; baseball pitching legend Cy Young in 1867; first lady Lou Hoover in 1874; Rep. Frances P. Bolton in 1885; actor/singer Pearl Bailey in 1918; Walmart founder Sam Walton in 1918; political commentator John McLaughlin in 1927; actor Scott Wilson in 1942; former British Prime Minister John Major in 1943 (age 81); actor Eric Idle in 1943 (age 81); Greek composer Vangelis, born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, in 1943; Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo in 1944 (age 80); basketball Hall of Fame member Walt Frazier in 1945 (age 79); musician Bobby Kimball (Toto) in 1947 (age 77); actor Bud Cort, born Walter Cox, in 1948 (age 76); Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in 1952 (age 72); Karen Ann Quinlan, the focus of arguments over the "right to die" when she fell into an irreversible coma, in 1954; football Hall of Fame member Earl Campbell in 1955 (age 69); actor Brendan Gleeson in 1955 (age 69); gymnast Kurt Thomas in 1956; actor Christopher Lambert in 1957 (age 67); musician Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction) in 1959 (age 65); actor Amy Sedaris in 1961 (age 63); model Elle Macpherson in 1964 (age 60); musician John Popper (Blues Traveler) in 1967 (age 57); actor Lucy Lawless in 1968 (age 56); former tennis star Jennifer Capriati in 1976 (age 48); musician PJ Morton (Maroon 5) in 1981 (age 43); actor Ed Skrein in 1983 (age 41).

On this date in history:

In 1812, Lucy Payne Washington, sister-in-law of U.S. President James Madison, married Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dodd in the first wedding performed in the White House.

In 1886, Coca-Cola was created by Dr. John Pemberton, who produced it in his backyard in Atlanta.

In 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing atomic weapons information to the Soviet Union. They were executed in 1953.

In 1961, the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment gave District of Columbia residents the right to vote in presidential elections.

In 1971, cult leader Charles Manson and three followers (Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel) were sentenced to death in the Tate-Labianca slayings in Los Angeles. The sentences and a fifth death sentence, for Charles "Tex" Watson, were later commuted to life in prison.

In 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam (some advisers and others remained), ending the United States' direct military involvement in a war that didn't officially end until 1975.

In 1991, six-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti quit, opening the way for the country's 50th government since World War II.

In 2004, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO.

In 2006, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party narrowly won the national election, taking 28 seats, forcing it into a coalition situation.

In 2010, two suicide bombers killed 39 people in attacks on the Moscow subway system.

In 2011, small levels of radiation from Japan's earthquake-tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant were detected in at least 15 U.S. states, but the Environmental Protection Agency said they posed no threat to public health.

In 2021, work crews refloated the jammed container ship Ever Given in Egypt's Suez Canal. It had blocked traffic in the vital trade waterway for nearly a week.

In 2023, Britain's King Charles III traveled to Berlin in his first state visit as monarch.

A thought for the day: "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." -- British scientist Charles Darwin