Andrews McMeel Almanac

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 79th day of 2025 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 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've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable." -- 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 full moon (March 13) and last quarter moon (March 22).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 78th day of 2025 and the 89th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Standard Time Act, establishing time zones and approving daylight saving time.

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

In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards were telecast for the first time.

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

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 55.3 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: "Literature takes a habit of mind that has disappeared. It requires silence, some form of isolation, and sustained concentration in the presence of an enigmatic thing." -- Philip Roth

TODAY'S NUMBER: $11.3 billion -- total gaming revenue for the Las Vegas Strip in 2024.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 13) and last quarter moon (March 22).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 77th day of 2025 and the 88th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1850, the American Express Company was founded.

In 1965, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk.

In 1974, members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) ended a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

In 1990, two men stole 13 pieces of art valued at $300-500 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the largest art theft in U.S. history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), 22nd and 24th U.S. president; Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer; Peter Graves (1926-2010), actor; George Plimpton (1927-2003), author/actor; John Updike (1932-2009), author/critic; Charley Pride (1934-2020), singer-songwriter; Bonnie Blair (1964- ), Olympic speed-skater; Queen Latifah (1970- ), actress/rapper; Dane Cook (1972- ), comedian/actor; Adam Levine (1979- ), singer-songwriter/TV personality.

TODAY'S FACT: Among the 13 works stolen in Boston's Gardner Museum art theft in 1990 was "The Concert," a painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It is considered the most valuable unrecovered stolen painting in the world, with an estimated value of $250 million.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers retired Wilt Chamberlain's No. 13 jersey.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The world keeps ending but new people too dumb to know it keep showing up as if the fun's just started." -- John Updike, "Rabbit Is Rich"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- number of NATO member countries that possess nuclear weapons: the United States, France and the United Kingdom.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 13) and last quarter moon (March 22).