For You

Today is Saturday, March 31, the 90th day of 2007 with 275 to follow.

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

This Day in History, March 31

On March 31st, 1889, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated.

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Other Notable Events, March 31

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 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, Colo.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India.

In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek re-election and simultaneously ordered suspension of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.

In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the deaths of 22 Vietnamese civilians in what was called the My Lai massacre.

In 1987, the U.S. State Department ordered home all 28 remaining U.S. Marine guards at the Moscow embassy after two Marines were charged with espionage.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact formally ended as Soviet commanders surrendered their powers in an agreement between pact members and the Soviet Union.

In 1992, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose air traffic and weapons sanctions against Libya for not surrendering six men wanted by the United States, Britain and France in the bombings of a U.S. jetliner and a French plane.

In 1994, a state of emergency was declared in the South African Zulu homeland of KwaZulu following deadly fighting in the weeks before the country's first universal-suffrage elections.

Also in 1994, the PLO resumed talks with Israel on the implementation of Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories.

In 1995, a U.S. judge ordered major league baseball owners to reinstate the contract that was in effect before the players' strike began.

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 2001, Serbian police and security forces attempted to arrest former President Slobodan Milosevic at his home in Belgrade on charges of corruption while in office. Supporters forced a stand-off that lasted until the next day when Milosevic surrendered peacefully.

In 2003, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri called on U.S. and British forces to withdraw immediately from Iraq because Iraqis were determined to "inflict the final defeat."

In 2004, OPEC ministers agreed to cut crude oil production despite concerns in some nations over oil prices which were near their highest level in 13 years.

Also in 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled the United States breached the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row by not telling them they had consular access.

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 heart-wrenching legal struggle over her fate reaching all the way to the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a British audience toppling Saddam Hussein was the right decision despite thousands of errors made in Iraq.

Also in 2006, rescue workers searched for more victims of a capsized cruise boat during a Persian Gulf party. Fifty-seven people were reported dead and 67 rescued.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 31

Those born on this date include:
- French philosopher Rene Descartes in 1596
- Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn in 1732
- German chemist Robert Bunsen, inventor of the Bunsen gas burner, in 1811
- Boxer Jack Johnson, the first black to hold the heavyweight title, in 1878
- Comedian Henry Morgan in 1915
- Actor/singer Richard Kiley in 1922
- Author and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia in 1924
- United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez in 1927
- Actor William Daniels, also in 1927 (age 80)
- Former National Hockey League star Gordie Howe in 1928 (age 79)
- Fashion designer Liz Claiborne in 1929 (age 78)
- Author John Jakes in 1932 (age 75)
- Actress Shirley Jones in 1934 (age 73)
- Trumpeter/bandleader Herb Alpert in 1935 (age 72)
- Actors Richard Chamberlain in 1934 (age 73), Christopher Walken in 1943 (age 64), Gabe Kaplan in 1945 (age 62), and Rhea Perlman in 1948 (age 59)
- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore Jr. also in 1948 (age 59)
- And actors Ed Marinaro in 1950 (age 57) and Ewan McGregor in 1971 (age 36).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Rene Descartes (1596-1650) French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?

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At the time, my grandparents told my mom, "Lordy, what is Shannen doing?" Now I've calmed down.

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Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.

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Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.

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Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.

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Everything is self-evident.

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Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.

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I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake.

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I think; therefore I am.

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If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.

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Illusory joy is often worth more than genuine sorrow.

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It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.

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Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

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

This Day in History, March 30

On March 30th, 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward purchased Alaska for $7.2 million, a move referred to by the media as "Seward's Folly."

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Other Notable Events, March 30

In 1842, Dr. Crawford Long became the first physician to use anesthetic (ether) in surgery.

In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward reached an agreement with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million in gold.

In 1870, following its ratification by the requisite three-fourths of the states, the 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution.

In 1923, the Cunard liner "Laconia" arrived in New York City, becoming the first passenger ship to circumnavigate the world, a cruise of 130 days.

In 1975, the South Vietnamese city of Da Nang fell to North Vietnamese forces.

In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington hotel. White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a Washington police officer also were wounded. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

In 1995, the compromise "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy allowing homosexuals to serve in the military under certain conditions was struck down by a federal judge in New York as unconstitutional.

In 1998, Armenian Premier Robert Kocharian was elected president in a run-off election in the former Soviet republic.

In 1999, a jury in Oregon awarded $81 million in damages to the family of a smoker who had died from lung cancer. A state judge later reduced the punitive portion to $32 million.

In 2003, an Iraqi spokesman said that 4,000 volunteers from 23 countries were ready to carry out suicide attacks against the U.S.-led coalition.

In 2005, Vatican officials said the ailing Pope John Paul II had a nasal feeding tube inserted after reportedly having trouble swallowing. The next day the 84-year-old pontiff was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2006, journalist Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, was freed in Baghdad after being held for 82 days by kidnappers.

Also in 2006, the sentencing trial of confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui went to the jury which would decide whether he spends life in prison or is executed.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 30

Those born on this date include:
- Spanish painter Francisco Jose de Goya in 1746
- English author Anna Sewell ("Black Beauty") in 1820
- English social reformer Charles Booth in 1840
- Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh in 1853
- Irish dramatist Sean O'Casey in 1880
- Former CIA Director Richard Helms in 1913
- Singer Frankie Laine also in 1913
- TV host Peter Marshall in 1927 (age 80)
- Actors Richard Dysart in 1929 (age 78), John Astin in 1930 (age 77) and Warren Beatty in 1937 (age 70)
- British blues/rock guitarist Eric Clapton in 1945 (age 62)
- Actor Paul Reiser in 1957 (age 50)
- And singers MC Hammer in 1962 (age 45), Tracy Chapman in 1964 (age 43), Celine Dion in 1968 (age 39) and Norah Jones in 1979 (age 28).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) postimpressionist painter, born in the Netherlands.

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.

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As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.

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Conscience is a man's compass.

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Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.

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Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

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Great things are not done by impulse, but a series of small things brought together.

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Happiness... it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.

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How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?

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I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.

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I can't work without a model. I won't say I turn my back on nature ruthlessly in order to turn a study into a picture, arranging the colors, enlarging and simplifying; but in the matter of form I am too afraid of departing from the possible and the true.

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I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.

On March 29th, 1871, the Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria.

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Other Notable Events, March 29

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

In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was found guilty in the killing of 22 civilians in Vietnam, an event known as the "My Lai" massacre.

Also in 1971, cult leader Charles Manson and three followers were sentenced to death in the Tate-Labianca slayings in Los Angeles. The death sentence was later found to be unconstitutional and the four were re-sentenced to life in prison.

In 1973, the last U.S. troops left South Vietnam and the last U.S. prisoners of war acknowledged by the North Vietnamese government were freed.

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations released its final report on the assassinations of U.S. President John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

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

In 1994, Bosnian Serbs stepped up their bombardment of Gorazde, 35 miles southeast of Sarajevo and one of the U.N.-designated "safe areas."

In 1996, the House Ethics Committee said Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., violated House rules by having close dealings with a wealthy GOP donor who had business interests affected by congressional legislation. It was the third time in two months the panel had notified Gingrich that he had broken the rules.

In 2003, Iraq introduced a new tactic in its war with the U.S.-led coalition when a suicide bomber blew up his taxi and killed four U.S. soldiers near Najaf.

Also in 2003, a Newsweek poll, published 10 days after the start of the Iraq war, showed 74 percent of Americans thought the Bush administration had a well thought-out military plan. Other polls showed otherwise, however, and there were anti-war demonstrations around the world.

In 2005, an independent panel investigating the U.N. Iraq Oil-for-Food Program cleared U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of any wrongdoing but faulted his son and top aides.

In 2006, Duke University's men's lacrosse season was suspended pending a police investigation into allegations three team members raped a woman at a party.

Also 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.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 29

Those born on this date include:
- John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, in 1790
- Baseball pitching legend Cy Young in 1867
- Eugene McCarthy, the Minnesota Democrat whose 1968 presidential campaign focused U.S. opposition to the Vietnam War, in 1916
- Actress/singer Pearl Bailey, and Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, both in 1918
- Former British Prime Minister John Major and actor Eric Idle, both in 1943 (age 64)
- Former pro basketball player Walt Frazier in 1945 (age 62)
- Karen Ann Quinlan, who became the focus of arguments over the "right to die" when she fell into an irreversible coma, in 1954
- Gymnast Kurt Thomas in 1956 (age 51)
- Actors Christopher Lambert in 1957 (age 50) and Lucy Lawless in 1968 (age 39)
- And tennis star Jennifer Capriati in 1976 (age 31).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by John Tyler (1790-1862) American president

Popularity, I have always thought, may aptly be compared to a coquette - the more you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace.

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Patronage is the sword and cannon by which war may be made on the liberty of the human race.

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If the tide of defamation and abuse shall turn, and my administration come to be praised, future Vice-Presidents who may succeed to the Presidency may feel some slight encouragement to pursue an independent course.

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Let it, then, be henceforth proclaimed to the world, that man's conscience was created free; that he is no longer accountable to his fellow man for his religious opinions, being responsible therefore only to his God.

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In 1840 I was called from my farm to undertake the administration of public affairs and I foresaw that I was called to a bed of thorns. I now leave that bed which has afforded me little rest, and eagerly seek repose in the quiet enjoyments of rural life. (Explaining why he would not run for reelection.)

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Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality.

On March 28th, 1979, a failure in a cooling system at Three Mile Island resulted in contamination of the water from nuclear waste.

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Other Notable Events, March 28

In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs was awarded a patent for the first washing machine.

In 1881, P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey merged their circuses to form "The Greatest Show on Earth."

In 1939, Madrid surrendered to the nationalist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1968, the counterculture musical "Hair" opened on Broadway.

In 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, died in Washington at age 78.

In 1979, a failure in the cooling system at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania caused a near meltdown. It was the worst accident at a U.S. civilian nuclear facility.

In 1991, just days before the 10th anniversary of the attempt on his life, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan endorsed a 7-day waiting period for handgun purchases, reversing his earlier opposition.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment vote by the Congress of People's Deputies.

Also in 1993, French voters rejected the ruling Socialists and gave the conservative alliance a crushing majority in legislative elections.

In 1994, pre-election clashes between Zulu nationalists, the ANC and police claimed 53 lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress approved the presidential line-item veto.

In 1997, an Italian warship collided with an Albanian ship crowded with refugees, causing an undetermined number of deaths.

In 2002, the U.S. Justice Department said it would seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged at the time as a co-conspirator in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In 2004, more than 40 people were reported killed in a series of bombings and gun battles in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan.

In 2005, a massive earthquake jolted the western coast of Sumatra reportedly killing as many as 3,000 people and destroying hundreds of buildings.

In 2006, the U.S. Senate voted to prohibit lobbyists from giving lawmakers gifts and meals. Also on this date, powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with ties to several members of Congress, drew a six-year prison sentence for fraud in Florida.

Also in 2006, the French Constitutional Council validated a hotly contested youth labor law despite a general strike that ground public life to a near halt and about 100 protests in Paris and across the nation.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 28

Those born on this date include:
- Russian author Maxim Gorky in 1868
- Brewers Frederick Pabst in 1836 and August Anheuser Busch Jr. in 1899
- Famed Hollywood agent Irving "Swifty" Lazar in 1907
- Edmund Muskie, the 1968 Democratic vice presidential candidate, in 1914
- Child star Freddie Bartholomew in 1924
- Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter administration national security adviser, in 1928 (age 79)
- Actors Dirk Bogarde in 1921, Conchata Ferrell in 1943 (age 64), Ken Howard in 1944 (age 63) and Dianne Wiest in 1948 (age 59)
- And country singer Reba McEntire in 1955 (age 52).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Mario Vargas Llosa (1936- ) Peruvian novelist and politician

Eroticism has its own moral justification because it says that pleasure is enough for me; it is a statement of the individual's sovereignty.

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If you are killed because you are a writer, that's the maximum expression of respect, you know.

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It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around.

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No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.

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Prosperity or egalitarianism - you have to choose. I favor freedom - you never achieve real equality anyway: you simply sacrifice prosperity for an illusion.

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There is an incompatibility between literary creation and political activity.

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Writing a book is a very lonely business. You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, submerged in your obsessions and memories.

On March 27th, 1513, Ponce de Leon sighted America for the first time.

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Other Notable Events, March 27

In 1958, Nikita Khrushchev replaced Nikolai Bulganin as premier of the Soviet Union.

In 1964, a powerful earthquake in Alaska killed 117 people. It was the strongest quake to hit North America.

In 1977, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided and exploded in flames on a foggy runway in the Canary Islands, killing 577 people in the worst aviation disaster in history.

In 1980, a Norwegian oil platform capsized during a storm in the North Sea, killing 123 people.

In 1990, Soviet soldiers dragged Lithuanian army deserters from a hospital in Vilnius and took over the headquarters of Lithuania's independent Communist Party in an effort to reassert Moscow's control over the dissident Baltic republic.

In 1996, an Israeli court convicted Yigal Amir of assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and sentenced him to life in prison.

In 2002, a suicide bomber killed himself and 19 Israelis attending a Passover meal at a hotel in Netanya. More than 100 others were injured.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush, seeking to calm concerns that the war in Iraq is proving tougher than expected after its first week, said the United States and Britain will battle Saddam Hussein's forces "however long it takes to win."

Also in 2003, health officials said 1,408 people in 14 countries had been stricken with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and 53 had died, including at least 34 in China.

In 2004, NASA reported its 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 pilgrims who wept and cheered.

Also in 2005, about 1 million chanting demonstrators converged on Taiwan's capital to protest China's Anti-Secession Law.

In 2006, a U.S. Senate committee approved a plan designed to legalize the United States' 11 million illegal immigrants.

Also in 2006, a suicide bomber outside a police recruiting center in northern Iraq killed at least 30 people and wounded 30 others.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 27

Those born on this date 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 Mies van der Rohe in 1886
- Actress Gloria Swanson in 1899
- Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan in 1924
- Actor Michael York in 1942 (age 65)
- Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in 1963 (age 44)
- And singer Mariah Carey in 1970 (age 37).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Edward Steichen (1879-1973) American photographer

Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product.

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I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.

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No photographer is as good as the simplest camera.

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Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things.

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Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.

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Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.

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The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each to himself. And that is the most complicated thing on earth.

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The use of the term art medium is, to say the least, misleading, for it is the artist that creates a work of art not the medium. It is the artist in photography that gives form to content by a distillation of ideas, thought, experience, insight and understanding.

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When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don't give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.

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When that shutter clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.

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You know... that a blank wall is an apalling thing to look at. The wall of a museum - a canvas - a piece of film - or a guy sitting in front of a typewriter. Then, you start out to do something - that vague thing called creation. The beginning strikes awe within you.

On March 26th, 1958, the United States army launched Explorer III.

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Other Notable Events, March 26

In 1859, astronomers reported sighting a new planet in an orbit near that of Mercury. They named it Vulcan. It's now believed to have been a "rogue asteroid" making a one-time pass close to the sun.

In 1953, U.S. medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announced on a national radio show that he had successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of 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 was overthrown in violent overnight military coup; 59 people died.

Also in 1991, the Pakistani hijackers of a Singapore Airlines jet were killed by government commandos in Singapore; the passengers and crew members were safe.

In 1992, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison for raping a teenage beauty pageant contestant.

Also in 1992, Soviet cosmonaut Serge Krikalev, after spending 313 days in orbit aboard the Mir space station, returned to Earth a citizen of a new country, Russia. While he was in space, the Soviet Union had crumbled.

In 1993, Russia's Congress of People's Deputies, called into session by an impeachment-minded parliament, backed away from a bid to unseat President Boris Yeltsin.

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious cult were found dead in a large house in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in an apparent 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.

In 2003, fierce hand-to-hand combat with bayonets broke out between Iraqi citizens and Saddam Fedayeen in the southern city of Basra. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 soldiers parachuted into northern Iraq seeking to unite the anti-Saddam Kurds.

In 2005, the family of Terri Schiavo said no more federal appeals on behalf of the brain-damaged Florida woman were planned after a judge rejected an emergency plea to have her feeding tube reinserted. The battle had reached the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2006, reports say the discovery of the bodies of 30 beheaded men in Iraq suggest death squads are becoming out of control.

Also, in 2006, Ukraine's opposition Regions Party won the parliamentary elections, with former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich returning to his post under President Viktor Yushchenko.

And, Scotland banned smoking in all public places. A BBC poll found about 21 percent of adults surveyed said they would ignore the law.

On March 25th, 1655, Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

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Other Notable Events, March 25

In 1634, the first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement's Island on Maryland's western shore and founded the settlement of St. Mary's.

In 1807, the English Parliament abolished the slave trade.

In 1911, 147 people died when they were trapped by a fire that swept the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in New York City.

In 1947, a mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., killed 111 men, most of them asphyxiated by gas.

In 1954, the Radio Corporation of America began commercial production of color television sets.

In 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg signed a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community, also known as the common market.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a deranged nephew in his palace in Riyadh.

In 1990, an arson fire swept an overcrowded, illegal Bronx social club, killing 87 people in the worst mass slaying in U.S. history at the time and the deadliest New York blaze since the Triangle Shirt Waist factory disaster exactly 79 years earlier. Julio Gonzalez, 36, was charged with arson and murder.

In 1992, in a further sign of the capitalist revolution, veterans of the former Soviet KGB announced plans to sell cloak-and-dagger tales to Hollywood for movies and TV.

In 1994, the last U.S. soldiers left Mogadishu, Somalia, although a handful remained behind to protect U.S. diplomats and to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers.

In 1996, the FBI surrounded the Montana compound of a tax-evading group called the Freemen, beginning a lengthy standoff.

In 1997, Chinese Premiere Li Peng, during a meeting in Beijing with U.S. Vice President Al Gore, denied reports that China had funneled campaign cash to the Clinton-Gore campaign.

In 1998, the first known physician-assisted suicide to be legal under Oregon state law was reported by the group Compassion In Dying.

In 2002, a massive earthquake devastated rural areas of Afghanistan. The quake, with a 6.1 magnitude, killed at least 600.

In 2004, a U.S. Army report said less than one-third of U.S. soldiers suffering from depression, anxiety or traumatic stress after combat in Iraq received mental health treatment. Officials were looking into 23 U.S. suicides.

In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people protested in Los Angeles against proposed U.S. legislation that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 25

Those born on this date include:
- symphony conductor Arturo Toscanini in 1867
- Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum in 1867
- Composer Bela Bartok in 1881
- Film director David Lean in 1908
- Sports commentator Howard Cosell in 1920
- French actress Simone Signoret in 1921
- Astronaut James Lovell in 1928 (age 79)
- Feminist writer Gloria Steinem in 1935 (age 72)
- Singer Anita Bryant in 1940 (age 67)
- Soul singer Aretha Franklin in 1942 (age 65)
- Actor/director Paul Michael Glaser in 1943 (age 64)
- Pop star Elton John in 1947 (age 60)
- Actresses Bonnie Bedelia in 1948 (age 59) and Sarah Jessica Parker in 1965 (age 42)
- Olympic silver medalist figure skater Debi Thomas in 1967 (age 40), and race driver Danica Patrick in 1982 (age 25).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) American author

All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal.

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Conviction without experience makes for harshness.

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Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.

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I am a writer because writing is the thing I do best.

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I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I'm afraid it will not be controversial.

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I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.

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I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one.

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It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.

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It seems that the fiction writer has a revolting attachment to the poor, for even when he writes about the rich, he is more concerned with what they lack than with what they have.

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Manners are of such great consequence to the novelist that any kind will do. Bad manners are better than no manners at all, and because we are losing our customary manners, we are probably overly conscious of them; this seems to be a condition that produces writers.

On March 24th, 1989, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill occured in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

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Other Notable Events, March 24

In 1603, after 44 years of rule, Queen Elizabeth I of England died. She was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland, uniting England and Scotland under a single British monarch.

In 1934, the United States granted the Philippine Islands its independence, effective July 4, 1946.

In 1965, white civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo of Detroit was shot and killed on a road near Selma, Ala.

In 1975, the beaver became the official symbol of Canada.

In 1976, Argentine President Isabel Peron, widow of strongman ruler Juan Peron, was arrested in a military coup.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil in the largest oil tanker spill in U.S. history.

In 1991, 12 people were killed and 29 wounded when South African police fired on ANC supporters at a rally in a black township in Daveytown after ordering the crowd to disperse.

In 1993, the suspected ringleader of the first World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 was arrested in Egypt and extradited to New York.

In 1998, four girls and a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., were killed by bullets fired from a nearby wooded area. Police arrested two boys, ages 11 and 13, in connection with the slayings

In 1999, NATO launched attacks on targets in Yugoslavia after the Serbs refused to sign a peace agreement worked out for the future of the rebellious province of Kosovo.

In 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that coalition forces were well on their way to Baghdad and victory in Iraq was "certain" despite some " anxious moments" ahead.

Also in 2003, in Iraq, Saddam Hussein appeared on television appealing to Iraqis to hold firm against the U.S.-led coalition.

In 2004, the U.S. commission examining anti-terror measures said several opportunities to capture or kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden were called off.

Also in 2004, the European Commission fined software giant Microsoft $613 million for breaking EU antitrust rules.

In 2005, the Philippine army broke a plot by Muslim extremists to detonate bombs throughout Manila on Easter Sunday, according to reports.

Also in 2005, the president of Kyrgyzstan was forced to flee his palace in the face of a popular uprising. The president, Askar Akayev, said Mafia elements were behind the widespread protests.

In 2006, the American Red Cross investigated New Orleans reports of massive losses of cash and supplies in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, possibly due to theft by some volunteers. The Red Cross got roughly 60 percent of the $3.6 billion Americans donated for hurricane relief.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 24

Those born on this date include:
- financier Andrew Mellon in 1855
- Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini in 1874
- Silent film star Fatty Arbuckle in 1887
- Pioneer Disney film animator Ub Iwerks in 1901
- Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey in 1902
- Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1919 (age 88)
- Actors Norman Fell in 1924 and Steve McQueen in 1930
- Dress designer Bob Mackie in 1940 (age 67)
- And actresses Donna Pescow in 1954 (age 53), Annabella Sciorra in 1964 (age 43) and Laura Flynn Boyle in 1970 (age 37), and pro football star Peyton Manning in 1976 (age 31).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by William Morris (1834-1896) English poet, artist, craftsman, designer, social reformer, and printe

A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. Memory and imagination help him as he works.

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I pondered all these things, and how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name.

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If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

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Of rich men it telleth, and strange is the story how they have, and they hanker, and grip far and wide; And they live and they die, and the earth and its glory has been but a burden they scarce might abide.

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So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.

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With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on.

On March 23rd, 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at St. John's Church in Richmond, VA.

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Other Notable Events, March 23

In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act for taxing the American colonies, an action that became a major grievance for rebellious colonials.

In 1775, in a speech supporting the arming of the Virginia militia, Patrick Henry declared, "Give me liberty or give me death."

In 1942, during World War II, Japanese-Americans were forcibly moved from their homes along the Pacific Coast to inland internment camps.

In 1966, Pope Paul VI met Britain's archbishop of Canterbury at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, the first meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches in 400 years.

In 1983, the world's first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, Barney Clark of Seattle, died in a Salt Lake City hospital.

In 1985, the United States completed the secret air evacuation of 800 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

In 1989, Dick Clark retired from hosting the TV show "American Bandstand" after 33 years.

In 1996, Taiwan elected Lee Teng-hui in the island's first direct presidential election.

In 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired his entire Cabinet.

Also in 1998, "Titanic" won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record total won by "Ben-Hur" in 1959.

In 1999, the vice president of Peru was assassinated.

In 2001, the United States expelled 40 Russian diplomats it said were spies. The action had come in response to the arrest of FBI agent and accused Russian spy Robert Hanssen.

Also in 2001, the Russian space station Mir was brought down in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji after more than 15 years in orbit.

In 2003, a U.S. soldier was arrested after allegedly throwing grenades into the tents of three American officers in Kuwait. Two soldiers died, 12 others were wounded.

Also, nine U.S. Marines were killed in Nasiriyah where fellow Marines found 3,000 chemical warfare suits and masks at a hospital.

In 2004, a bipartisan government commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, noted in a preliminary report "alarming threats" about a possible al-Qaida attack months before the assault.

Also in 2004, NASA said new findings on Mars suggest an ancient sea once covered part of the planet.

In 2005, Iraqi forces attacked a training camp for suspected insurgents west of Baghdad, killing 80 gunmen in one of the largest operations to stamp out terrorism.

Also in 2005, federal investigators say there is no evidence of terrorism in the deadly BP refinery explosion in Texas City, Texas, that killed 15 workers and left several others in critical condition.

In 2006, the U.S. government rested its case in the sentencing trial of admitted terrorist Zacarias Moujssaoui in Alexandria, Va. The jury will decide whether Moussaoui could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and whether he should get the death penalty.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 23

Those born on this date include:
- culinary expert Fannie Farmer in 1857
- Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in 1900
- Actress Joan Crawford in 1905
- Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in 1910
- Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun in 1912
- Roger Bannister, the first person to run the mile in less than 4 minutes, in 1929 (age 78)
- Former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson Jr., in 1938
- Comedian Louie Anderson and singer Chaka Khan, both in 1953 (age 54)
- And actresses Amanda Plummer in 1957 (age 50), and Keri Russell ("Felicity") in 1976 (age 31).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) German-American rocket expert

Don't tell me that man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go - and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.

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For my confirmation, I didn't get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift.

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I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution.

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It will free man from the remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet.

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Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft... and the only one that can be mass-produced with unskilled labor.

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Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity.

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Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.

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There is just one thing I can promise you about the outer-space program - your tax-dollar will go further.

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We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.

On March 22nd, 1894, the first Stanley Cup playoffs began.

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Other Notable Events, March 22

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 electric 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 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson recalled U.S. 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 1974, the Senate passed and sent to the states for ratification the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a measure popularly known as the Equal Rights Amendment. However, the required number of states failed to ratify it before the deadline.

In 1987, Chad troops drove Libyan forces from a key airstrip in northern Chad, apparently ending Moammar Gadhafi's seven-year occupation. The Libyans abandoned $500 million worth of Soviet-made tanks and airplanes.

In 1992, 27 people were killed when a USAir plane bound for Cleveland skidded off a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport during a snowstorm and landed in the bay.

In 1997, Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth -- about 122 million miles.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II visited a Palestinian refugee camp and declared the conditions there to be "degrading."

In 2003, as the war in Iraq gained momentum, a U.S. Army maintenance convoy made a wrong turn and was ambushed. Eleven soldiers were killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

Also in 2003, U.S. forces seized a large weapons cache in Afghanistan.

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 2005, North Korea's government-controlled news agency claimed the country beefed up its nuclear weapons arsenal to counter U.S. security threats.

In 2006, troubled General Motors, in a reported deal with the United Auto Workers Union, said it would offer buyout and early retirement packages to each of its 113,000 unionized employees.

Also in 2006, Basque separatists who live mostly in Spain announced they were declaring a cease-fire and ending their long violent struggle for independence.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 22

Those born on this date include:
- actors Karl Malden in 1912 (age 95) and Werner Klemperer ("Hogan's Heroes") in 1920
- French mime Marcel Marceau in 1923 (age 84)
- Composer Stephen Sondheim and televangelist Pat Robertson, both in 1930 (age 77)
- Actors William Shatner in 1931 (age 76) and M. Emmett Walsh in 1935 (age 72)
- Singer George Benson in 1943 (age 64)
- British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1948 (age 59)
- Sportscaster Bob Costas in 1952 (age 55)
- Actor Matthew Modine in 1959 (age 48)
- Canadian skater Elvis Stojko in 1972 (age 35)
- And actress Reese Witherspoon in 1976 (age 31).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Marcel Marceau (1923- ) French mime

Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?

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I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth. I have tried to shed some gleams of light on the shadow of man startled by his anguish.

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In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people.

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It's good to shut up sometimes.

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Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music.

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Music conveys moods and images. Even in opera, where plots deal with the structure of destiny, it's music, not words, that provides power.

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Never get a mime talking. He won't stop.

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To communicate through silence is a link between the thoughts of man.

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What sculptors do is represent the essence of gesture. What is important in mime is attitude.

On March 21st, 1928, Charles Lindbergh was presented a Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.

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Other Notable Events, March 21

In 1617, Pocahontas died in England at about age 22. Three years earlier, she had converted to Christianity, taken the name Rebecca and married Englishman John Rolfe.

In 1790, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia became the first U.S. secretary of state. He later was the third president of the United States.

In 1918, U.S. and German soldiers fought the key World War I battle of the Somme.

In 1945, 7,000 Allied planes dropped more than 12,000 tons of explosives on Germany during a single World War II daytime bombing raid.

In 1960, police opened fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators in the black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire.

In 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pledged that Russia would cooperate with the United States in peaceful exploration of space. The joint American-Soviet Soyuz space mission was conducted in July 1975.

In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King Jr., began a four-day march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., to demand federal protection of voting rights.

In 1984, the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk collided with a nuclear-powered Soviet submarine in the Sea of Japan.

In 1993, Nicaraguan rebels ended their 13-day seizure of the Nicaraguan Embassy, freeing the last 11 hostages under a deal that gave them asylum in the Dominican Republic.

In 1999, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones landed near Cairo, Egypt, after becoming the first to circle the globe by balloon.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the FDA never received congressional authority to regulate tobacco products.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II, referring briefly to the sexual abuse scandal that had shaken the Roman Catholic clergy, said in a letter that "a dark shadow of suspicion" had fallen over all priests because of the behavior of those who had succumbed to "the most grievous forms" of evil.

Also in 2002, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board blamed the co-pilot for the Oct. 21, 1999, crash of an EgyptAir jetliner shortly after takeoff from New York for Cairo, killing all 217 aboard.

In 2003, some 1,300 missiles struck Baghdad after dark in part of what the Pentagon dubbed its "shock-and-awe" offensive as journalists imbedded with the troops reported from the battleground. Meanwhile, U.S. troops seized major oil fields near Basra.

Also in 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion budget embracing President George W. Bush's tax-cutting plan.

In 2004, the White House denied charges of a former anti-terror adviser that U.S. President George Bush was not properly focused on the threat of the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

Also in 2004, for the third straight year, Wal-Mart Stores was ranked No. 1 among the nation's largest companies on Fortune Magazine's 50th annual Fortune 500 list.

In 2005, a 17-year-old youth at the northern Minnesota Indian Reservation of Red Lake killed nine people, wounded 12 others and then killed himself.

Also in 2005, the number of undocumented residents in the United States totaled 11 million people, the Pew Hispanic Center said in a report.

In 2006, about 100 armed Iraqi insurgents stormed a jail north of Baghdad, killing 18 policemen and freeing 10 prisoners. Ten of the attackers also were reported killed.

Also in 2006, one of Australia's worst storms in years, Cyclone Larry, left at least 1,000 people homeless in the Northern Queensland town of Innisfail and its surrounding region.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 21

Those born on this date include:
- composer Johann Sebastian Bach in 1685
- Mexican revolutionary and president Benito Juarez in 1806
- Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1839
- Theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld in 1869
- English theatrical director Peter Brook in 1925 (age 82)
- And actors James Coco in 1930, Al Freeman Jr. in 1934 (age 73), Timothy Dalton in 1946 (age 61), Gary Oldman in 1958 (age 49), and Matthew Broderick and Rosie O'Donnell, both in 1962 (age 45).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Johann S. Bach (1685-1750) German composer and organist

The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

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It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.

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Bring me A bowl of coffee before I turn into a goat.

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I have always kept one end in view, namely, with all good will to conduct a well-regulated church music to the honor of God.

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Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul.

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Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.

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My masters are strange folk with very little care for music in them.

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There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.

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My present post amounts to about 700 thaler, and when there are rather more funerals than usual, the fees rise in proportion; but when a healthy wind blows, they fall accordingly.

On March 20th, 1916, Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity.

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Other Notable Events, March 20

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published.

In 1854, in what is considered the founding meeting of the Republican Party, former members of the Whig Party met in Ripon, Wis., to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories.

In 1963, a volcano on the East Indies island of Bali began erupting. The eventual death toll exceeded 1,500.

In 1976, San Francisco newspaper heiress and kidnapping victim Patty Hearst was convicted of bank robbery.

In 1977, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son, Sanjay, lost their parliamentary races in India's general elections.

In 1986, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a $100 million aid package for the Nicaraguan Contras, a major Reagan administration policy setback.

Also in 1986, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at more than 1,800 for the first time.

In 1987, the federal government approved the sale of AZT, a treatment but not a cure for AIDS.

In 1991, Baghdad was warned to abide by the cease-fire after U.S. fighter jets shot down an Iraqi jet fighter in the first major air action since the end of the Persian Gulf War.

In 1995, 12 people were killed and more than 5,000 made ill by a nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. Members of a religious sect were blamed.

In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of killing their wealthy parents in Los Angeles.

Also in 1996, the world learned of "mad cow" disease from a British government report questioning the safety of British beef.

In 1997, the Liggett Group, fifth-largest U.S. tobacco company, agreed to admit that smoking was addictive and caused health problems and that the tobacco industry had sought for years to sell its products to children as young as 14.

In 2001, five days after explosions destroyed one of its support beams, the largest oilrig in the world collapsed and sank off the coast of Brazil.

In 2002, U.S. President George Bush's visit to Peru was preceded by a car bomb explosion outside the U.S. Embassy in Lima that killed nine and injured 30.

Also in 2002, the office of the special prosecutor Robert Ray announced there was not enough evidence that either former U.S. President Bill Clinton or his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton had committed crimes in connection with the failed Whitewater real estate venture in Arkansas.

In 2003, early ground combat in the Iraq war found U.S. soldiers heading north toward Baghdad and U.S. and British Marines going northeast toward Basra, Iraq's second largest city.

Also in 2003, Brian Patrick Regan, a retired Air Force master sergeant, was sentenced to life in prison for offering to sell intelligence secrets to Saddam Hussein and the Chinese government.

In 2004, thousands rallied worldwide against the 1-year-old U.S. presence in Iraq.

Also in 2004, after narrowly escaping assassination the day before, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was re-elected with about 50 percent of the vote.

In 2005, more than 30 Shiite Muslim worshippers were killed and many more injured when a bomb exploded at a shrine in the village of Fatehpur, Pakistan.

Also on this date in 2005, which was Palm Sunday, ailing Pope John Paul II appeared at his window in the Vatican but did not speak.

And, John Z. DeLorean, the high-flying General Motors executive who came to grief with his DeLorean sports car, died at the age of 80.

In 2006, reports from Iraq said that over a two-week period, nearly 200 bodies were found in Baghdad, apparent victims of execution or torture.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 20

Those born on this date include:
- Roman poet Ovid in 43 B.C.
- Adventurer and writer Edward Judson, originator of the dime novel, wrote as Ned Buntline, in 1823
- Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1828
- Psychologist B.F. Skinner in 1904
- Actor/bandleader Ozzie Nelson in 1906
- Former New York Mayor Abe Beame in 1906
- British actor Michael Redgrave in 1908
- Producer/director Carl Reiner in 1922 (age 85)
- Fred Rogers (TV's "Mister Rogers") in 1928
- Actor Hal Linden ("Barney Miller") in 1931 (age 76)
- Singer/songwriter Jerry Reed in 1937 (age 70)
- Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1939 (age 68)
- Former hockey star Bobby Orr in 1948 (age 59)
- Actor William Hurt in 1950 (age 57)
- Filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Theresa Russell, both in 1957 (age 50)
- And actress Holly Hunter in 1958 (age 49).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) Norwegian dramatist and poet

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.

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A forest bird never wants a cage.

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A marriage based on full confidence, based on complete and unqualified frankness on both sides; they are not keeping anything back; there's no deception underneath it all. If I might so put it, it's an agreement for the mutual forgiveness of sin.

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A minority may be right, and a majority is always wrong.

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A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.

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Castles in the air - -they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build as well.

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Do not use that foreign word "ideals." We have that excellent native word "lies."

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Don't use that foreign word "ideals." We have that excellent native word "lies."

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I'm afraid for all those who'll have the bread snatched from their mouths by these machines. What business has science and capitalism got, bringing all these new inventions into the works, before society has produced a generation educated up to using them!

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In that second it dawned on me that I had been living here for eight years with a strange man and had borne him three children.

On March 19th, 1915, Pluto was photographed for the first time, but not recognized as a planet.

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Other Notable Events, March 19

In 721 B.C., according to the Roman historian Ptolemy, Babylonian astronomers noted history's first recorded eclipse: an eclipse of the moon.

In 1916, the first U.S. air combat mission in history saw eight Curtiss "Jenny" planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, N.M., to aid troops that had invaded Mexico in pursuit of the bandit Pancho Villa.

In 1918, the U.S. Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to establish standard time zones in the United States.

In 1920, the Treaty of Versailles, establishing the League of Nations, was rejected by the U.S. Senate.

In 1931, in an effort to ease the hard times of the Great Depression, the Nevada Legislature voted to legalize gambling.

In 1942, with World War II under way, all men in the United States between the ages of 45 and 64, about 13 million, were ordered to register with the draft boards for non-military duty.

In 1953, legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille won the only Academy Award of his career when "The Greatest Show on Earth," a big-budget extravaganza about circus life, was acclaimed the Best Picture of the year.

In 1987, South Carolina televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as head of the PTL Club, saying he was blackmailed after a sexual encounter with former church secretary Jessica Hahn.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia became the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh.

In 1992, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Andrew and his wife, the duchess of York, were separating.

In 1993, Justice Byron White, the lone remaining member of the U.S. Supreme Court appointed by a Democrat, announced he would retire, opening the way for President Bill Clinton to make his first high judicial nomination.

In 1997, a U.S. federal judge in Phoenix began sentencing 10 members of a paramilitary group to prison after they pleaded guilty to various counts, including conspiracy to make and possess destructive devices.

In 2002, Israel completed its army's pullout of the West Bank by leaving Bethlehem, one day after Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon met with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. The following day a suicide bomber killed seven Israelis on a bus.

In 2003, the U.S.-led military offensive invaded Iraq with a nighttime assault on Baghdad.

Also in 2003, the U.S. Senate rejected a proposal supported by the Bush administration to allow drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2004, on the first anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, officials said 571 U.S. military personnel had been killed.

In 2005, Pakistan was reported to have successfully tested a nuclear-capable missile with a range of 1,250 miles.

In 2006, the disputed presidential election in Belarus sparked street protests throughout the country while international observers alleged fraud. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed 82.6 percent of the vote, was accused of rigging the election.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Notable Birthdays for March 19

Those born on this date include:
- Plymouth Colony Gov. William Bradford in 1590
- Scottish explorer of Africa David Livingstone in 1813
- Marshal Wyatt Earp in 1848
- Jurist William Jennings Bryan in 1860
- Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren in 1891
- "Watergate" Judge John Sirica in 1904
- Actor Patrick McGoohan in 1928 (age 79)
- Author Philip Roth in 1933 (age 74)
- And actors Ursula Andress in 1936 (age 71), Glenn Close in 1947 (age 60) and Bruce Willis in 1955 (age 52).

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Classic Quotes by William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) American political leader

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

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Do not compute the totality of your poultry population until all the manifestations of incubation have been entirely completed.

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I hope the two wings of the Democratic Party may flap together.

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If that vital spark that we find in a grain of wheat can pass unchanged through countless deaths and resurrections, will the spirit of man be unable to pass from this body to another?

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No one can earn a million dollars honestly.

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This is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty - the cause of humanity.

On March 18th, 1766, the British government repealed the Stamp Act.

Other Notable Events, March 18

In 1922, Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience against the British rulers of India.

In 1926, the worst tornado in U.S. history roared through eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana, killing 695 people, injuring some 13,000 people, and causing $17 million in property damage.

In 1931, the first electric razor was marketed by Schick, Inc.

In 1937, a natural gas explosion at a public school in New London, Texas, killed 410 people, most of them children.

In 1962, France and Algeria signed a cease-fire agreement ending a seven-year civil war and bringing independence to the North African country.

In 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexi Leonov became the first person to "walk in space."

In 1989, the shuttle Discovery completed a five-day mission, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1992, hotel queen and convicted tax cheat Leona Helmsley was sentenced to four years in prison.

In 1993, Contra rebels freed five hostages they held at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Costa Rica after the two sides agreed to begin talks to end the 10-day siege.

In 1995, Michael Jordan announced he was returning to professional basketball and the Chicago Bulls after a 17-month break, during which he had tried a baseball career.

In 1996, John Salvi was convicted of murder in the killing of two abortion clinic receptionists. He later committed suicide.

In 1997, Zaire's parliament fired Premier Leon Kengo wa Dondo and opened negotiations with rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

In 2000, opposition candidate Chen Shui-bain was elected president of Taiwan, ending more than 50 years of Nationalist Party rule.

In 2003, on the eve of war with Iraq, the U.S. State Department listed 30 countries as members of a "coalition of the willing" supporting military intervention but only the United States, Britain and Australia were known to be providing troops.

In 2004, a top U.S. scientist told lawmakers that all bovines slated for consumption should be tested for mad cow disease which he called "the greatest threat to the safety of the human food supply in modern times."

In 2005, doctors removed the feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive after an wide-ranging fight over the brain-damaged Florida woman's care that involved U.S. President Bush and Congress.

Also in 2005, news reports said Ukraine admitted to exporting missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads, to Iran and China.

In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people took to the streets in French cities and towns for the largest protest so far against a new labor law. It allows employers to dismiss workers under the age of 26 for any reason during the first two years on the job.

Notable Birthdays for March 18

Those born on this date include:
- John C. Calhoun, the first U.S. vice president to resign that office, in 1782
- Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States, in 1837
- Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1844
- German engineer Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, in 1858
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1869
- Clairvoyant and therapist Edgar Cayce in 1877
- Actor Edward Everett Horton in 1886
- Auto race promoter Andy Granatelli in 1923 (age 84)
- Actor Peter Graves in 1926 (age 81)
- Authors George Plimpton in 1927 and John Updike in 1932 (age 75)
- Former South African President F.W. de Klerk in 1936 (age 71)
- Country singer Charley Pride in 1938 (age 69) and singer/songwriter Wilson Pickett in 1941
- Singer Irene Cara in 1959 (age 48)
- Actress/singer Vanessa Williams in 1963 (age 44)
- Olympic skater Bonnie Blair in 1964 (age 43)
- And rapper/actress Queen Latifah in 1970 (age 37).

Classic Quotes by Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) American President

A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil.

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After an existence of nearly twenty years of almost innocuous desuetude these laws are brought forth.

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He mocks the people who proposes that the government shall protect the rich and that they in turn will care for the laboring poor.

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Honor lies in honest toil.

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I have considered the pension list of the republic a roll of honor.

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It is a condition which confronts us - not a theory.

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Minds do not act together in public; they simply stick together; and when their private activities are resumed, they fly apart again.

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No man has ever yet been hanged for breaking the spirit of a law.

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Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.

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Party honesty is party expediency.

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Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours.

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The ship of Democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those aboard.