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UPI Almanac for Thursday, March 22, 2018

On March 22, 2014, a mudslide in Oso, Wash., left 43 people dead after a portion of a hill collapsed in the wake of weeks of rain.

By United Press International
Search and rescue personnel work in the debris field on March 27, 2014, in Oso, Wash., five days after a mudslide killed 43 people. File Photo by Ted Warren/Pool
Search and rescue personnel work in the debris field on March 27, 2014, in Oso, Wash., five days after a mudslide killed 43 people. File Photo by Ted Warren/Pool | License Photo

Today is Thursday, March 22, the 81st day of 2018 with 284 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck in 1599; author Louis L'Amour in 1908; actor Leonard "Chico" Marx of the Marx Brothers comedy team in 1887; actor Karl Malden in 1912; French mime Marcel Marceau in 1923; newspaper executive Allen Neuharth in 1924; composer Stephen Sondheim in 1930 (age 88); televangelist Pat Robertson in 1930 (age 88); actor William Shatner in 1931 (age 87); U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in 1934 (age 84); actor M. Emmet Walsh in 1935 (age 83); singer George Benson in 1943 (age 75); author James Patterson in 1947 (age 71); British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1948 (age 70); television journalist Wolf Blitzer in 1948 (age 70); sportscaster Bob Costas in 1952 (age 66); actor Lena Olin in 1955 (age 63); actor Matthew Modine in 1959 (age 59); actor Keegan-Michael Key in 1971 (age 47); Canadian skater Elvis Stojko in 1972 (age 46); actor Guillermo Diaz in 1975 (age 43); actor Reese Witherspoon in 1976 (age 42); actor Constance Wu in 1982 (age 36); NFL player J.J. Watt in 1989 (age 29); actor Nick Robinson in 1995 (age 23).

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On this date in history:

In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed by Britain's Parliament, introducing a tax on printed materials in the American colonies. Colonists believed this to be a violation of their rights and was a major grievance listed in the Declaration of Independence.

In 1791, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation forbidding slave trading with foreign nations.

In 1941, the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River began producing electrical power for the Pacific Northwest.

In 1945, representatives from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen met in Cairo to establish the Arab League.

In 1963, Please Please Me, the debut album from The Beatles, is released in Britain.

In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson recalled Army Gen. William Westmoreland as commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam and made him Army chief of staff. Gen. Creighton Abrams took over in Saigon.

In 1989, Pete Rozelle resigned as commissioner of the National Football League after holding the job 30 years.

In 1992, a USAir plane skidded off a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport during a snowstorm and landed in Flushing Bay. Twenty-seven people died.

In 2003, a U.S. Army maintenance convoy in Iraq made a wrong turn and was ambushed. Eleven soldiers were killed and seven, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, were captured. Lynch later said she was erroneously praised for heroism: "I'm not a hero. I'm just a survivor."

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In 2004, the founder and spiritual leader of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli missile strike in the Gaza Strip.

In 2006, Basque separatists who live mostly in Spain declared a cease-fire, saying they would end their long struggle for independence.

In 2010, the largest U.S. community organizing group, known as ACORN, announced it was disbanding because of declining revenues.

In 2011, an Israeli court sentenced former President Moshe Katsav to seven years in prison for rape and sexual harassment.

In 2012, a group of military officers seized control of the Mali government and ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure, even though he had planned to step down the following month.

In 2014, a mudslide in Oso, Wash., left 43 people dead after a portion of a hill collapsed in the wake of weeks of rain.

In 2016, three coordinated bombings in Belgium -- two at Brussels Airport and one at Maalbeek metro station -- left 35 people, including three attackers. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.

In 2017, an attacker drove a vehicle into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before abandoning the car, fatally stabbing an unarmed police officer and being shot and killed by another officer. Six people, including the attacker, died.

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A thought for the day: George McGovern said, "I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

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