ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 82nd day of 2017 and the fourth day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their return trip east after reaching the Pacific coast.

In 1956, Pakistan became the first Islamic republic.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proposed the "Star Wars" plan for the development of missile-intercepting technology.

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joan Crawford (1904-1977), actress; Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), filmmaker; Roger Bannister (1929- ), athlete/physician; Ric Ocasek (1949- ), singer-songwriter; Ron Jaworski (1951- ), sportscaster; Chaka Khan (1953- ), singer-songwriter; Kenneth Cole (1954- ), fashion designer; Moses Malone (1955-2015), basketball player; Catherine Keener (1959- ), actress; Jason Kidd (1973- ), basketball player; Michelle Monaghan (1976- ), actress; Keri Russell (1976- ), actress; Perez Hilton (1978- ), blogger/TV personality; Kyrie Irving (1992- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The Russian space station Mir was pulled out of orbit on this day in 2001. Although it re-entered the atmosphere over Fiji, most of the debris burned up during the descent.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1994, Wayne Gretzky of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings scored the 802nd goal of his career, breaking the record then held by Gordie Howe.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I suppose all of my films have a common theme. If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why can't people be happier together?" – Akira Kurosawa

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- number of interviews by British journalist David Frost with former President Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal. The first of these was videotaped on this day in 1977.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 20) and new moon (March 27).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 81st day of 2017 and the third day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1882, the U.S. Congress passed an act that made polygamy a felony.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act, which legalized the sale of alcoholic beverages.

In 1945, the Arab League charter was adopted in Cairo.

In 1963, the Beatles' debut album, "Please Please Me," was released in the United Kingdom.

In 1995, cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned to Earth after completing the longest single spaceflight in history, at 437 days 18 hours.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Louis L'Amour (1908-1988), author; Karl Malden (1912-2009), actor; Marcel Marceau (1923-2007), mime artist; Stephen Sondheim (1930- ), composer; William Shatner (1931- ), actor; James Patterson (1947- ), author; Wolf Blitzer (1948- ), journalist; Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948- ), composer; Bob Costas (1952- ), sportscaster; Matthew Modine (1959- ), actor; Keegan-Michael Key (1971- ), actor/comedian; Kathryn Jean Lopez (1976- ), journalist; Reese Witherspoon (1976- ), actress; J.J. Watt (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The album cover photograph for "Please Please Me" was taken in the stairwell of record label EMI's London headquarters.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1894, the Montreal AAA beat the Ottawa Generals 3-1 in the first Stanley Cup championship hockey game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface." -- Stephen Sondheim

TODAY'S NUMBER: $219.5 billion – total alcoholic beverage sales in the United States in 2015.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 20) and new moon (March 27).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 80th day of 2017 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 completed 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; Timothy Dalton (1944- ), 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.

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: "A bit of trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides the necessary roughage in the literary diet." – Phyllis McGinley

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 20) and new moon (March 27).