The Almanac
Today is Monday, March 27, the 86th day of 2017 with 279 to follow. The
moon is new. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Venus.
Evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars. Those born on this
date are under the sign of Aries. They include printmaker Nathaniel
Currier of Currier and Ives in 1813; German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen,
discoverer of X-rays, in 1845; schoolteacher Patty Smith Hill, who
wrote the words for Happy Birthday to You, in 1868; photographer Edward
Steichen in 1879; architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1886; actor
Gloria Swanson in 1899; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eisaku Sato in 1901;
jazz singer Sarah Vaughan in 1924; race car driver Cale Yarborough in
1939 (age 78); actor Michael York in 1942 (age 75); actor Maria
Schneider in 1952; filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in 1963 (age 54); singer
Mariah Carey in 1970 (age 47); singer Fergie -- Stacy Ann Ferguson --
in 1975 (age 42). On this date in history: In 1886, Apache leader
Geronimo surrendered to U.S. federal authorities. In 1933, the American
embassy in Berlin reported that physical mistreatment of Jews in
Germany has been virtually terminated. In 1958, Nikita Khrushchev
replaced Nikolai Bulganin as Premier of the Soviet Union. In 1964, the
strongest earthquake to hit North America -- magnitude 9.2 -- struck
Alaska, killing 139 people. In 1976, the first section of Washington,
D.C.'s Metro subway system opened with over 4.6 miles of track on the
Red Line running from Farragut North to Rhode Island Avenue in the
District of Columbia. In 1977, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided and
exploded in flames on a foggy runway at Tenerife, the largest of the
Canary Islands, killing 583 people in the worst aviation accident in
history. In 1980, a Norwegian oil platform capsized during a storm in
the North Sea, killing 123 people. In 1993, Jiang Zemin was appointed
President of the People's Republic of China. In 1996, an Israeli court
convicted Yigal Amir and sentenced him to life in prison for
assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Nov. 4, 1995. In 1998, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra for use as a
treatment for male impotence. In 2004, NASA's unmanned experimental
hypersonic plane reached about 5,000 mph in a test flight -- more than
seven times the speed of sound. In 2005, ailing Pope John Paul II
appeared at his apartment window before an Easter crowd in St. Peter's
Square but was unable to speak. He silently blessed thousands of
cheering people, many who wept. The pope died six days later, on April
2. He was 84. In 2007, leaders of Myanmar staged a military parade to
show off the new capital city, Naypyidaw. In 2013, Julia Pierson became
the first woman to head the U.S. Secret Service. Pierson resigned in
October 2014. In 2014, U.S. President Obama Barack Obama visited Pope
Francis at the Vatican. It was their first meeting. A thought for the
day: Fame was thrilling only until it became grueling. Money was fun
only until you ran out of things to buy. -- Gloria Swanson .
