ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 78th day of 2021 and the 89th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1918, the U.S. Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time.

In 1931, the Nevada state legislature voted to legalize gambling.

In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards were featured in the first Oscars telecast.

In 2003, President George W. Bush announced the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: David Livingstone (1813-1873), physician/explorer; Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), lawman/gunfighter; William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), politician; Earl Warren (1891-1974), chief justice of the United States; Philip Roth (1933-2018), author; Ursula Andress (1936- ), model/actress; Glenn Close (1947- ), actress; Bruce Willis (1955- ), actor; Andy Reid (1958- ), football coach; Clayton Kershaw (1988- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, broadcast in 1998, holds the record for the largest Oscars telecast audience, with 55 million viewers. The James Cameron blockbuster "Titanic" won 11 awards, including best picture and best director.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, NBA superstar Michael Jordan scored 19 points against the Indiana Pacers in his first game back with the Chicago Bulls after almost two years of retirement.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Literature takes a habit of mind that has disappeared. It requires silence, some form of isolation, and sustained concentration in the presence of an enigmatic thing." -- Philip Roth

TODAY'S NUMBER: $3.73 billion -- total gaming revenue for the Las Vegas Strip in 2020, down 43% from 2019 due to the 78-day shutdown of casinos in Nevada and subsequent capacity limits and safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 13) and first quarter moon (March 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 77th day of 2021 and the 88th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1850, the American Express Company was founded.

In 1965, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk.

In 1974, members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) ended a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

In 1990, two men stole 13 pieces of art valued at $300 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the largest art theft in U.S. history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), 22nd and 24th U.S. president; Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer; Peter Graves (1926-2010), actor; George Plimpton (1927-2003), author/actor; John Updike (1932-2009), author/critic; Charley Pride (1934-2020), singer-songwriter; Bonnie Blair (1964- ), Olympic speed-skater; Queen Latifah (1970- ), actress/singer; Dane Cook (1972- ), comedian/actor; Adam Levine (1979- ), singer-songwriter/TV personality.

TODAY'S FACT: Among the 13 works stolen in Boston's Gardner Museum art theft in 1990 was "The Concert," a painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It is considered the most valuable unrecovered stolen painting in the world, with an estimated value of $200 million.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers retired Wilt Chamberlain's No. 13 jersey.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better." -- John Updike

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- number of NATO member countries that possess nuclear weapons: the United States, France and the United Kingdom.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 13) and first quarter moon (March 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 76th day of 2021 and the 87th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Italy -- excluding Rome and Venice -- was unified as a nation under King Victor Emmanuel II.

In 1905, Franklin D. Roosevelt married distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt.

In 1950, physics researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, announced the creation of californium, the radioactive 98th element.

In 1958, the United States launched the first solar-powered satellite, the Vanguard 1.

In 1995, the FDA licensed Varivax, the first chicken pox vaccine.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900), engineer/inventor; Paul Green (1894-1981), playwright; Bobby Jones (1902-1971), golfer; Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), civil rights activist; Nat King Cole (1919-1965), singer; Kurt Russell (1951- ), actor; Gary Sinise (1955- ), actor; Rob Lowe (1964- ), actor; Billy Corgan (1967- ), singer-songwriter; Mia Hamm (1972- ), soccer player; Hozier (1990- ), singer-songwriter; John Boyega (1992- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Gottlieb Daimler is credited with building the first internal combustion motorcycle in 1885.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2005, six Major League Baseball players, including All-Star sluggers Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, appeared before a congressional hearing on steroid use.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him." -- Bayard Rustin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13 -- elements in the periodic table that were identified before the year A.D. 1.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 13) and first quarter moon (March 21).