ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 92nd day of 2017 and the 14th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, establishing the U.S. Mint.

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond, Virginia, as Union forces closed in on the Confederate capital.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany.

In 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings on the British-held Falkland Islands, marking the beginning of the Falklands War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), writer; Emile Zola (1840-1902), author/critic; Walter Chrysler (1875-1940), Chrysler founder; Max Ernst (1891-1976), artist; Buddy Ebsen (1908-2003), actor; Alec Guinness (1914-2000), actor; Jack Webb (1920-1982), actor; Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), singer-songwriter; Emmylou Harris (1947- ), singer-songwriter; Christopher Meloni (1961- ), actor; Clark Gregg (1962- ), actor; Michael Fassbender (1977- ), actor; Jesse Plemons (1988- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: German artist Max Ernst created an art technique called "frottage" in which blank paper is placed over an object and rubbed with a pencil or another drawing tool to reproduce the texture or pattern of the object's surface.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1931, Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old female pitcher, struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition match between the Class AA minor league Chattanooga Lookouts and the New York Yankees.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman." -- Emile Zola

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,700 -- area (in square miles) of the Falkland Islands, which is slightly less than the state of Connecticut.

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

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).