ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 74th day of 2020 and the 85th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1794, inventor Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin.

In 1900, the Gold Standard Act was signed into law by President William McKinley.

In 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation instituted the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

In 1990, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), composer; Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1844-1881), poet; Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist/Nobel Prize winner; Lee Petty (1914-2000), race car driver; Hank Ketcham (1920-2001), cartoonist; Diane Arbus (1923-1971), photographer; Michael Caine (1933- ), actor; Quincy Jones (1933- ), record producer; Wolfgang Petersen (1941- ), filmmaker; Billy Crystal (1948- ), actor/comedian; Grace Park (1974- ), actress; Jamie Bell (1986- ), actor; Stephen Curry (1988- ), basketball player; Ansel Elgort (1994- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Of the 523 fugitives who have been on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list since its inception in 1950, only 10 were women.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, the AFL and NFL held their first common draft of college football players. The Baltimore Colts selected defensive tackle Bubba Smith of Michigan State with the first pick.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind." -- Diane Arbus

TODAY'S NUMBER: 80 -- record number of Grammy nominations for producer Quincy Jones.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 9) and last quarter moon (March 16).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 73rd day of 2020 and the 84th 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: "For poetry there exists neither large countries nor small. Its domain is in the heart of all men." -- 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 9) and last quarter moon (March 16).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 72nd day of 2020 and the 83rd 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: "When you write a play, you make a set of assumptions -- that you have something to say, that you know how to say it, that it's worth saying, and that maybe someone will come along for the ride. That's all." -- Edward Albee

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: Between full moon (March 9) and last quarter moon (March 16).