The Almanac
Today is Friday, March 31, the 90th day of 2017 with 275 to follow. The
moon is waxing. 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 French philosopher Rene
Descartes in 1596; Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn in 1732; poet
Edward FitzGerald in 1809; boxer Jack Johnson, the first African
American to hold the heavyweight title, in 1878; comedian Henry Morgan
in 1915; actor/singer Richard Kiley in 1922; author/motivational
speaker Leo Buscaglia in 1924; United Farm Workers President Cesar
Chavez in 1927; actor William Daniels in 1927 (age 90); hockey Hall of
Fame member Gordie Howe in 1928; fashion designer Liz Claiborne in
1929; author John Jakes in 1932 (age 85); actor Shirley Jones in 1934
(age 83); actor Richard Chamberlain in 1934 (age 82);
trumpeter/bandleader/music entrepreneur Herb Alpert in 1935 (age 82);
political commentator Michael Savage in 1942 (age 75); actor
Christopher Walken in 1943 (age 74); actor Gabe Kaplan in 1945 (age
72); actor Rhea Perlman in 1948 (age 69); former U.S. Vice President Al
Gore in 1948 (age 69); actor/former football player Ed Marinaro in 1950
(age 67); actor Ewan McGregor in 1971 (age 46). On this date in
history: In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris in a ceremony
presided over by its designer, Gustave Eiffel, during the Universal
Exhibition of Arts and Manufacturers. In 1906, the Intercollegiate
Athletic Association of the United States (later renamed the National
Collegiate Athletic Association) was established. In 1918, daylight
saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.
In 1948, the U.S. Congress passed the Marshall Aid Act, a plan to
rehabilitate war-ravaged Europe. In 1954, the U.S. Air Force Academy
was established at Colorado Springs. In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled
Chinese-oc'cup'ied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India. In
1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced he wouldn't seek
re-election and simultaneously ordered the suspension of U.S. bombing
of North Vietnam. In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was sentenced
to life in prison for his part in the deaths of 22 Vietnamese civilians
in what was called the My Lai Massacre. Public opinion polls and news
reports indicated that most Americans believed the sentence was too
severe; many said Calley was a scapegoat. His sentence was gradually
reduced and he was paroled in 1974. In 1991, the Warsaw Pact formally
ended, with Soviet commanders surrendering their powers in an agreement
between pact members and the Soviet Union. In 1998, the U.N. Security
Council voted to impose an arms embargo on Yugoslavia after unrest in
the Serbian province of Kosovo turned violent. In 2005, Terri Schiavo,
a 41-year-old Florida woman in a persistent vegetative state since
1990, died 14 days after removal of her feeding tube amid a legal
struggle over her fate that reached the White House and Supreme Court.
In 2007, Pakistan successfully tested its Hataf-II Abdali ballistic
missile, believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. In 2013,
authorities announced the death toll from the collapse of a multistory
building under construction in Tanzania reached at least 25. The toll
would eventually be raised to 36. In 2014, French President Francois
Hollande, whose Socialist Party had widespread losses in recent
elections, announced the formation of a new government. A thought for
the day: J.William Fulbright said, In a democracy dissent is an act of
faith. .
