ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 72nd day of 2017 and the 83rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, German-born astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

In 1865, the Confederacy approved the use of slave troops against the Union armies.

In 1925, a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution went into effect in Tennessee.

In 1991, the U.S. Justice Dept. announced that Exxon had agreed to pay $1 billion to settle all claims resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

In 2013, Pope Francis was elected 266th pope of the Catholic Church.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Percival Lowell (1855-1916), astronomer; Giorgos Seferis (1900-1971), poet; Walter Annenberg (1908-2002), publisher/philanthropist; Sammy Kaye (1910-1987), bandleader; L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), author/Church of Scientology founder; Al Jaffee (1921- ), cartoonist; Neil Sedaka (1939- ), singer-songwriter; William H. Macy (1950- ), actor; Dana Delany (1956- ), actress; Common (1972- ), rapper/actor; Johan Santana (1979- ), baseball player; Emile Hirsch (1985- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The 27 known moons of Uranus are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, the NFL approved the relocation of the Chicago Cardinals franchise to St. Louis.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To say what you want to say, you must create another language and nourish it for years with what you have loved, with what you have lost, with what you will never find again." -- Giorgos Seferis

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14.5 -- length in miles of the undersea portion of the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, the longest and deepest operational rail tunnel in the world, which opened this day in 1988.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 12) and last quarter moon (March 20).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 71st day of 2017 and the 82nd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, the Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in Savannah, Georgia.

In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and more than 70 supporters began a 240-mile march protesting the British salt tax.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman introduced the "Truman Doctrine," a policy that provided military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to prevent the spread of communism.

In 2002, the U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 1397, endorsing the creation of a Palestinian state.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989), artist/critic; Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), author; Edward Albee (1928-2016), playwright; Andrew Young (1932- ) activist/politician; Liza Minnelli (1946- ), actress/singer; Mitt Romney (1947- ), politician; James Taylor (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Carl Hiaasen (1953- ), author; Darryl Strawberry (1962- ), baseball player; Aaron Eckhart (1968- ), actor; Jaimie Alexander (1984- ), actress; Christina Grimmie (1994-2016), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Former President Harry S. Truman was the holder of Medicare card No. 1, which President Lyndon Johnson symbolically presented to Truman on the passing of Medicare legislation in 1965.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1966, Bobby Hull scored his 51st goal, becoming the first NHL player to tally more than 50 goals in a season and leading his Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way to come back a short distance correctly." -- Edward Albee, "The Zoo Story"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $18 billion -- losses suffered by investors in the massive Ponzi scheme perpetuated by stockbroker Bernie Madoff, who pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies on this day in 2009.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (March 12).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 70th day of 2017 and the 81st day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, delegates from seven states adopted the Constitution of the Confederate States of America.

In 1888, the "Great Blizzard of '88" struck the Northeastern United States, killing more than 400 people.

In 2004, 191 people were killed when terrorist bombs exploded on rush hour commuter trains in Madrid.

In 2011, a magnitude 9.03 undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that struck Japan, killing nearly 16,000 people and causing meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lawrence Welk (1903-1992), bandleader; Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990), civil rights leader; Rupert Murdoch (1931- ), business leader; Sam Donaldson (1934- ), TV journalist; Antonin Scalia (1936-2016), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Douglas Adams (1952-2001), author; Peter Berg (1962- ), actor/filmmaker; Alex Kingston (1963- ), actress; Terrence Howard (1969- ), actor; Johnny Knoxville (1971- ), actor; Anton Yelchin (1989-2016), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: According to Forbes, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch's net worth is $12.9 billion in 2017.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, Randy Holt of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings was penalized nine times for a record total of 67 minutes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it." – Douglas Adams

TODAY'S NUMBER: 44 -- countries that received the $50 billion in funds and military goods made available under the Lend-Lease Act, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on this day in 1941.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (March 5) and full moon (March 12).