ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 80th day of 2023 and the second day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, a fire destroyed most of the city of New Orleans.

In 1963, the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay was closed.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would boycott the Moscow Olympic Games.

In 2006, the social media site Twitter was founded.

In 2011, a team of 30 surgeons and other physicians at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston announced the completion of the first full face transplant in the United States.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benito Juarez (1806-1872), Mexican president; Florenz Ziegfeld (1867-1932), theater producer; Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978), author; Walter Lincoln Hawkins (1911-1992), scientist/inventor; Solomon Burke (1940-2010), singer-songwriter; Timothy Dalton (1946- ), actor; Gary Oldman (1958- ), actor; Ayrton Senna (1960-1994), race car driver; Matthew Broderick (1962- ), actor; Rosie O'Donnell (1962- ), actress/talk show host; Ronaldinho (1980- ), soccer player; Adrian Peterson (1985- ), football player; Scott Eastwood (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones completed the first nonstop hot air balloon flight around the world on this day in 1999.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, an investigative report by Sports Illustrated revealed evidence that Major League Baseball player-manager Pete Rose had illegally gambled on baseball games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Gossip isn't scandal and it's not merely malicious. It's chatter about the human race by lovers of the same." -- Phyllis McGinley

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14 -- attempted escapes, involving 36 inmates, from Alcatraz Penitentiary over the 29 years that the prison operated. None of the attempts are believed to have been successful.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (March 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 79th day of 2023 and the first day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was published.

In 1952, the U.S. Senate ratified a peace treaty returning sovereignty to Japan.

In 1987, the FDA approved AZT, a drug shown to delay the development of AIDS.

In 1995, members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas into the Tokyo Metro subway system, killing 12 and injuring more than 5,000.

In 2003, the United States and a coalition of allied states began military operations in Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), poet/playwright; B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), psychologist; Ozzie Nelson (1906-1975), actor/bandleader; Carl Reiner (1922-2020), comedy writer/director/actor; Fred Rogers (1928-2003), TV personality; Hal Linden (1931- ), actor; Pat Riley (1945- ), basketball coach/executive; Bobby Orr (1948- ), hockey player; William Hurt (1950-2022), actor; Spike Lee (1957- ), filmmaker; Holly Hunter (1958- ), actress; Kathy Ireland (1963- ), model/actress; David Thewlis (1963- ), actor; Michael Rapaport (1970- ), actor; Chester Bennington (1976-2017), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: The constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947, forbids the country from participating in wars.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1934, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson pitched one inning of exhibition baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. She allowed one walk and no hits.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I think Black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just sit back and let other people define our existence." -- Spike Lee

TODAY'S NUMBER: 542 -- length (in feet) of the USS Langley, commissioned on this day in 1922 as the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The USS Gerald R. Ford, a supercarrier commissioned into the Navy's fleet in 2017, is 1,106 feet long.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 14) and new moon (March 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 78th day of 2023 and the 89th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1918, the U.S. Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time.

In 1931, the Nevada state legislature voted to legalize gambling.

In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards were featured in the first Oscars telecast.

In 2003, President George W. Bush announced the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: David Livingstone (1813-1873), physician/explorer; Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), lawman/gunfighter; William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), politician; Earl Warren (1891-1974), chief justice of the United States; Philip Roth (1933-2018), author; Ursula Andress (1936- ), model/actress; Glenn Close (1947- ), actress; Bruce Willis (1955- ), actor; Andy Reid (1958- ), football coach; Clayton Kershaw (1988- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, broadcast in 1998, holds the record for the largest Oscars telecast audience, with 55 million viewers. The James Cameron blockbuster "Titanic" won 11 awards, including best picture and best director.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, NBA superstar Michael Jordan scored 19 points against the Indiana Pacers in his first game back with the Chicago Bulls after almost two years of retirement.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies." -- Philip Roth, "The Human Stain"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $8.28 billion -- total gaming revenue for the Las Vegas Strip in 2022.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 14) and new moon (March 21).