ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 91st day of 2017 and the 13th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1826, Samuel Morey received the patent for the first internal combustion engine.

In 1945, Operation Iceberg began as U.S. troops landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which required the surgeon general's warning on tobacco products and banned cigarette ads on radio and TV.

In 2011, a mob protesting the burning of the Quran attacked the United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, causing the deaths of 13 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), German political leader; Edmond Rostand (1868-1918), playwright; Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), composer; Milan Kundera (1929- ), author; Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016), actress; Ali MacGraw (1939- ), actress; Samuel Alito (1950- ), Supreme Court justice; Method Man (1971- ), rapper; Rachel Maddow (1973- ), TV personality; Asa Butterfield (1997- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Two monumental innovations in meteorology occurred on April 1: In 1875, Francis Galton published the first newspaper weather map; in 1960, TIROS-1, the first weather satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1985, the eighth-seeded Villanova Wildcats defeated the top-seeded and heavily favored Georgetown Hoyas 66-64 in the NCAA championship game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes." – Milan Kundera, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $734 billion -- value of Apple Inc. in March 2017. The company was founded in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne on this day in 1976.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 27) and first quarter moon (April 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 90th day of 2017 and the 12th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in a ceremony in Paris.

In 1930, the Motion Pictures Production Code was adopted to regulate mature content in movies.

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced a halt to bombing missions over North Vietnam and closed the televised speech with the announcement that he would not run for re-election.

In 1995, singer-songwriter Selena was murdered by the former president of her fan club.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rene Descartes (1596-1650), philosopher/mathematician; Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), composer; Jack Johnson (1878-1946), boxer; Cesar Chavez (1927-1993), labor leader; Gordie Howe (1928-2016), hockey player; Liz Claiborne (1929-2007), fashion designer; Herb Alpert (1935- ), musician; Christopher Walken (1943- ), actor; Al Gore (1948- ), former U.S. vice president/senator; Rhea Perlman (1948- ), actress; Angus Young (1955- ), guitarist/songwriter; Ewan McGregor (1971- ), actor; Jessica Szohr (1985- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Gustave Eiffel designed the interior structure of New York's Statue of Liberty.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, Hall of Fame coach John Wooden announced his retirement during the postgame press conference after leading his UCLA Bruins to a 92-85 win over the Kentucky Wildcats and earning his NCAA-record 10th national title.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "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." -- Rene Descartes, "Principles of Philosophy"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,212 -- Broadway performances in the 15-year run of "Oklahoma!" The Rodgers and Hammerstein hit debuted on this day in 1943.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 27) and first quarter moon (April 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 89th day of 2017 and the 11th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1855, "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invaded Kansas during the territory's first election, forcing the election of a pro-slavery legislature.

In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward completed the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million.

In 1870, the U.S. Congress readmitted Texas to the Union.

In 1964, the TV quiz show "Jeopardy!" premiered on NBC with host Art Fleming.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Francisco Goya (1746-1828), painter; Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), painter; John Astin (1930- ), actor; Warren Beatty (1937- ), actor/director; Eric Clapton (1945- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Paul Reiser (1957- ), actor/comedian; Piers Morgan (1965- ), TV personality; Celine Dion (1968- ), singer-songwriter; Secretariat (1970-1989), racehorse; Norah Jones (1979- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Richard Sherman (1988- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The purchase of Alaska added 663,267 square miles to the United States for less than $11 per square mile.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, Jack Nicklaus made his debut in the Senior PGA Tour (since renamed the Champions Tour).

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passersby see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney and then go on their way." -- Vincent van Gogh

TODAY'S NUMBER: $1,075,500 -- final sale price of a pristine copy of Detective Comics No. 27, featuring the first full appearance of Batman, at a 2010 auction. The comic book was released (with a cover price of 10 cents) on this day in 1939.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 27) and first quarter moon (April 3).