This is St. Patrick's Day.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, inventor of the gasoline-burning internal combustion engine, in 1834; children's author and illustrator Kate Greenaway in 1846; golf legend Bobby Jones in 1902; singer/pianist Nat King Cole in 1919; ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev in 1938; actors Patrick Duffy in 1949 (age 59), Kurt Russell in 1951 (age 57), Lesley-Anne Down in 1954 (age 54), Gary Sinise in 1955 (age 53), Rob Lowe in 1964 (age 44), and Vicki Lewis in 1960 (age 48); soccer star Mia Hamm in 1972 (age 36); and Caroline Corr, of the Irish pop band The Corrs, in 1973 (age 35).

In 1762, New York City staged the first parade honoring the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It was led by Irish soldiers serving in the British army.

In 1776, the Continental Army under Gen. George Washington forced British troops to evacuate Boston.

In 1901, 71 paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris and caused a sensation across the art world.

In 1945, the bloody World War II battle against Japanese forces for the Pacific island of Iwo Jima ended in victory for the United States.

In 1958, the U.S. Navy launched the satellite Vanguard 1 into orbit around the Earth.

In 1978, the tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany in France, eventually spilling 220,000 tons of crude oil.

In 1992, South African whites voted to end minority rule.

Also in 1992, 10 people were killed and at least 126 injured in a bomb blast that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee voted to expel six members in connection with the bribery scandal related to the effort by Salt Lake City, Utah, to win the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Five other IOC members had earlier resigned.

In 2000, Smith & Wesson, the nation's oldest and largest maker of handguns, agreed to a wide array of restrictions in exchange for ending some lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt the company.

In 2003, as war with Iraq seemed a certainty, U.S. President George W. Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours in which to leave the country but the ultimatum was rejected. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered all U.N. personal out of Iraq.

In 2004, more than 25 people were reported killed and 41 injured in a car-bomb blast at the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad.

In 2005, several major league baseball players told the U.S. Congress that steroids were a problem in the sport.

In 2006, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the Environmental Protection Administration cannot exempt older power plants and refineries from the Clean Air Act, voting unanimously against the Bush administration's interpretation of the law.

Also in 2006, General Motors said its actual losses the year before were $10 billion, some $2 billion more than previously reported.

In 2007, the Palestinian legislature approved the Hamas-dominated unity government though leaders of the Hamas and Fatah factions remained divided on Israeli issues.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include John C. Calhoun, the first U.S. vice president to resign that office, in 1782; Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States, in 1837; Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1844; German engineer Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, in 1858; British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1869; clairvoyant and therapist Edgar Cayce in 1877; actor Edward Everett Horton in 1886; auto race promoter Andy Granatelli in 1923 (age 85); actor Peter Graves in 1926 (age 82); authors George Plimpton in 1927 and John Updike in 1932 (age 76); former South African President F.W. de Klerk in 1936 (age 72); country singer Charley Pride in 1938 (age 70) and singer/songwriter Wilson Pickett in 1941; singer Irene Cara in 1959 (age 49); actress/singer Vanessa Williams in 1963 (age 45); Olympic skater Bonnie Blair in 1964 (age 44); and rapper/actress Queen Latifah in 1970 (age 38).

In 1922, Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience against the British rulers of India.

In 1926, the worst tornado in U.S. history roared through eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana, killing 695 people, injuring some 13,000 others and causing $17 million in property damage.

In 1931, the first electric razor was marketed by Schick, Inc.

In 1937, a natural gas explosion at a public school in New London, Texas, killed 410 people, most of them children.

In 1962, France and Algeria signed a cease-fire agreement ending a seven-year civil war and bringing independence to the North African country.

In 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexi Leonov became the first person to walk in space.

In 1989, the shuttle Discovery completed a five-day space mission, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1992, hotel queen and convicted tax cheat Leona Helmsley was sentenced to four years in prison.

In 1993, Contra rebels freed five hostages they held at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Costa Rica after the two sides agreed to begin talks to end the 10-day siege.

In 1995, Michael Jordan announced he was returning to professional basketball and the Chicago Bulls after a 17-month break, during which he had tried a baseball career.

In 1997, Zaire's parliament fired Premier Leon Kengo wa Dondo and opened negotiations with rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

In 2000, opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian was elected president of Taiwan, ending more than 50 years of Nationalist Party rule.

In 2003, on the eve of war with Iraq, the U.S. State Department listed 30 countries as members of a coalition of the willing supporting military intervention but only the United States, Britain and Australia were known to be providing troops.

In 2004, a top U.S. scientist told lawmakers that all bovines slated for consumption should be tested for mad cow disease which he called the greatest threat to the safety of the human food supply in modern times.

In 2005, doctors removed the feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive after a wide-ranging fight over the brain-damaged Florida woman's care that involved U.S. President Bush and Congress.

Also in 2005, news reports said Ukraine admitted to exporting missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads, to Iran and China.

In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people took to the streets in French cities and towns for the largest protest so far against a new labor law. It allows employers to dismiss workers under the age of 26 for any reason during the first two years on the job.

In 2007, the U.S military placed the American combat death toll in the Iraq war at 3,211.

Also in 2007, Israel's Cabinet voted unanimously to boycott the new Hamas-dominated Palestinian unity government.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Plymouth Colony Gov. William Bradford in 1590; Scottish explorer of Africa David Livingstone in 1813; Marshal Wyatt Earp in 1848; jurist William Jennings Bryan in 1860; Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren in 1891; Watergate Judge John Sirica in 1904; actor Patrick McGoohan in 1928 (age 80); author Philip Roth in 1933 (age 75); and actors Ursula Andress in 1936 (age 72), Glenn Close in 1947 (age 61) and Bruce Willis in 1955 (age 53).

In 721 B.C., according to the Roman historian Ptolemy, Babylonian astronomers noted history's first recorded eclipse: an eclipse of the moon.

In 1916, the first U.S. air combat mission in history saw eight Curtiss Jenny planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, N.M., to aid troops that had invaded Mexico in pursuit of the bandit Pancho Villa.

In 1918, the U.S. Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to establish standard time zones in the United States.

In 1920, the Treaty of Versailles, establishing the League of Nations, was rejected by the U.S. Senate.

In 1931, in an effort to ease the hard times of the Great Depression, the Nevada Legislature voted to legalize gambling.

In 1942, with World War II under way, all men in the United States between the ages of 45 and 64, about 13 million, were ordered to register with the draft boards for non-military duty.

In 1953, legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille won the only Academy Award of his career when The Greatest Show on Earth, a big-budget extravaganza about circus life, was acclaimed the Best Picture of the year.

In 1987, South Carolina televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as head of the PTL Club, saying he was blackmailed after a sexual encounter with former church secretary Jessica Hahn.

In 1991, Khaleda Zia became the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh.

In 2002, Israel completed its army's pullout of the West Bank by leaving Bethlehem one day after Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon met with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. The following day a suicide bomber killed seven Israelis on a bus.

In 2003, the U.S.-led military offensive invaded Iraq with a nighttime assault on Baghdad.

Also in 2003, the U.S. Senate rejected a proposal supported by the Bush administration to allow drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2004, on the first anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, officials said 571 U.S. military personnel had been killed.

In 2005, Pakistan was reported to have successfully tested a nuclear-capable missile with a range of 1,250 miles.

In 2006, the disputed presidential election in Belarus sparked street protests throughout the country while international observers alleged fraud. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed 82.6 percent of the vote, was accused of rigging the election.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush, in a speech marking the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war, said he saw some gains through the recent troop surge but it would take months to show substantial progress.

Also in 2007, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay allegedly admitted helping plan the bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and the USS Cole in Yemen.

This is the first day of spring.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include Roman poet Ovid in 43 B.C.; adventurer and writer Edward Judson, originator of the dime novel, writting as Ned Buntline, in 1823; Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen in 1828; psychologist B.F. Skinner in 1904; actor/bandleader Ozzie Nelson in 1906; former New York Mayor Abe Beame in 1906; British actor Michael Redgrave in 1908; actor, producer, director Carl Reiner in 1922 (age 86); Fred Rogers (TV's Mister Rogers) in 1928; actor Hal Linden (Barney Miller) in 1931 (age 77); singer/songwriter Jerry Reed in 1937 (age 71); former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1939 (age 69); former hockey star Bobby Orr in 1948 (age 60); actor William Hurt in 1950 (age 58); filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Theresa Russell, both in 1957 (age 51); and actress Holly Hunter in 1958 (age 50).

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published.

In 1854, in what is considered the founding meeting of the Republican Party, former members of the Whig Party met in Ripon, Wis., to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories.

In 1963, a volcano on the East Indies island of Bali began erupting. The eventual death toll exceeded 1,500.

In 1976, San Francisco newspaper heiress and kidnapping victim Patty Hearst was convicted of bank robbery.

In 1977, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son, Sanjay, lost their parliamentary races in India's general elections.

In 1986, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at more than 1,800 for the first time.

In 1987, the federal government approved the sale of AZT, a treatment but not a cure for AIDS.

In 1991, Baghdad was warned to abide by the cease-fire after U.S. fighter jets shot down an Iraqi jet fighter in the first major air action since the end of the Persian Gulf War.

In 1995, 12 people were killed and more than 5,000 made ill by a nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. Members of a religious sect were blamed.

In 1996, the world learned of mad cow disease from a British government report questioning the safety of British beef.

In 1997, the Liggett Group, fifth-largest U.S. tobacco company, agreed to admit that smoking was addictive and caused health problems and that the tobacco industry had sought for years to sell its products to children as young as 14.

In 2001, five days after explosions destroyed one of its support beams, the largest oilrig in the world collapsed and sank off the coast of Brazil.

In 2002, U.S. President George Bush's visit to Peru was preceded by a car bomb explosion outside the U.S. Embassy in Lima that killed nine and injured 30.

Also in 2002, the office of the special prosecutor Robert Ray announced there was not enough evidence that either former U.S. President Bill Clinton or his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton had committed crimes in connection with the failed Whitewater real estate venture in Arkansas.

In 2003, early ground combat in the Iraq war found U.S. soldiers heading north toward Baghdad and U.S. and British Marines going northeast toward Basra, Iraq's second largest city.

Also in 2003, Brian Patrick Regan, a retired Air Force master sergeant, was sentenced to life in prison for offering to sell intelligence secrets to Saddam Hussein and the Chinese government.

In 2004, thousands rallied worldwide against the 1-year-old U.S. presence in Iraq.

Also in 2004, after narrowly escaping assassination the day before, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was re-elected with about 50 percent of the vote.

In 2005, more than 30 Shiite Muslim worshippers were killed and many more injured when a bomb exploded at a shrine in the village of Fatehpur, Pakistan.

Also on this date in 2005, which was Palm Sunday, ailing Pope John Paul II appeared at his window in the Vatican but didn't speak.

And, John Z. DeLorean, the high-flying General Motors executive who came to grief with his DeLorean sports car, died at the age of 80.

In 2006, reports from Iraq said that over a two-week period, nearly 200 bodies were found in Baghdad, apparent victims of execution or torture.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate voted 94-2 to strip U.S. President George Bush of the power to bypass the confirmation process for U.S. attorneys.

Also in 2007, an early morning nursing home fire in southern Russia killed at least 62 people and injured 30 others.

And, former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged in Baghdad for his part in the 1982 deaths of 148 Shiites.

This is Good Friday.

The moon is full. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include composer Johann Sebastian Bach in 1685; Mexican revolutionary and president Benito Juarez in 1806; Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1839; theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld in 1869; English theatrical director Peter Brook in 1925 (age 83); and actors James Coco in 1930, Al Freeman Jr. in 1934 (age 74), Timothy Dalton in 1946 (age 62), Gary Oldman in 1958 (age 50) and Matthew Broderick and Rosie O'Donnell, both in 1962 (age 46).

In 1617, Pocahontas died in England at about age 22. Three years earlier, she had converted to Christianity, taken the name Rebecca and married Englishman John Rolfe.

In 1790, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia became the first U.S. secretary of state. He later was the third president of the United States.

In 1918, U.S. and German soldiers fought the key World War I battle of the Somme.

In 1945, 7,000 Allied planes dropped more than 12,000 tons of explosives on Germany during a single World War II daytime bombing raid.

In 1960, police opened fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators in the black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire.

In 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pledged that Russia would cooperate with the United States in peaceful exploration of space. The joint American-Soviet Soyuz space mission was conducted in July 1975.

In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King Jr., began a four-day march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., to demand federal protection of voting rights.

In 1984, the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk collided with a nuclear-powered Soviet submarine in the Sea of Japan.

In 1993, Nicaraguan rebels ended their 13-day seizure of the Nicaraguan Embassy, freeing the last 11 hostages under a deal that gave them asylum in the Dominican Republic.

In 1999, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones landed near Cairo, Egypt, after becoming the first to circle the globe by balloon.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II, referring briefly to the sexual abuse scandal that had shaken the Roman Catholic clergy, said in a letter that a dark shadow of suspicion had fallen over all priests because of the behavior of those who had succumbed to the most grievous forms of evil.

Also in 2002, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board blamed the co-pilot for the Oct. 21, 1999, crash of an EgyptAir jetliner shortly after takeoff from New York for Cairo, killing all 217 aboard.

In 2003, some 1,300 missiles struck Baghdad after dark in part of what the Pentagon dubbed its shock-and-awe offensive as journalists imbedded with the troops reported from the battleground. Meanwhile, U.S. troops seized major oil fields near Basra.

Also in 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion budget embracing President George Bush's tax-cutting plan.

In 2004, the White House denied charges of a former anti-terror adviser that U.S. President George Bush wasn't properly focused on the threat of the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

Also in 2004, for the third consecutive year, Wal-Mart Stores was ranked No. 1 among the nation's largest companies on Fortune Magazine's 50th annual Fortune 500 list.

In 2005, a 17-year-old youth at the northern Minnesota Indian Reservation of Red Lake killed nine people, wounded 12 others and then killed himself.

Also in 2005, the number of undocumented residents in the United States totaled 11 million people, the Pew Hispanic Center said in a report.

In 2006, about 100 armed Iraqi insurgents stormed a jail north of Baghdad, killing 18 policemen and freeing 10 prisoners. Ten of the attackers were reported killed.

Also in 2006, one of Australia's worst storms in years, Cyclone Larry, left at least 1,000 people homeless in the Northern Queensland town of Innisfail and its surrounding region.

In 2007, some 400,000 public sector workers staged a general strike in Israel, shutting down airports, railways and sea ports over unpaid wages.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include actors Karl Malden in 1912 (age 96) and Werner Klemperer (Hogan's Heroes) in 1920; French mime Marcel Marceau in 1923; composer Stephen Sondheim and televangelist Pat Robertson, both in 1930 (age 78); actors William Shatner in 1931 (age 77) and M. Emmett Walsh in 1935 (age 73); singer George Benson in 1943 (age 65); British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1948 (age 60); sportscaster Bob Costas in 1952 (age 56); actor Matthew Modine in 1959 (age 49); Canadian skater Elvis Stojko in 1972 (age 36); and actress Reese Witherspoon in 1976 (age 32).

In 1791, The U.S. Congress enacted legislation forbidding slave trading with foreign nations.

In 1941, the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River began producing electric power for the Pacific Northwest.

In 1945, representatives from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen met in Cairo to establish the Arab League.

In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson recalled U.S. Army Gen. William Westmoreland as commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam and made him Army chief of staff. Gen. Creighton Abrams took over in Saigon.

In 1974, the U.S. Senate passed and sent to the states for ratification the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a measure popularly known as the Equal Rights Amendment. However, the required number of states failed to ratify it before the deadline.

In 1987, Chad troops drove Libyan forces from a key airstrip in northern Chad, apparently ending Moammar Gadhafi's seven-year occupation. The Libyans abandoned $500 million worth of Soviet-made tanks and airplanes.

In 1992, 27 people were killed when a USAir plane bound for Cleveland skidded off a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport during a snowstorm and landed in the bay.

In 1997, Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth -- about 122 million miles.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II visited a Palestinian refugee camp and declared the conditions there to be degrading.

In 2003, as the war in Iraq gained momentum, a U.S. Army maintenance convoy made a wrong turn and was ambushed. Eleven soldiers were killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

In 2004, the founder and spiritual leader of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli missile strike in the Gaza Strip.

In 2005, North Korea's government-controlled news agency claimed the country beefed up its nuclear weapons arsenal to counter U.S. security threats.

In 2006, troubled General Motors, in a reported deal with the United Auto Workers Union, said it would offer buyout and early retirement packages to each of its 113,000 unionized employees.

Also in 2006, Basque separatists who live mostly in Spain announced they were declaring a cease-fire and ending their long violent struggle for independence.

In 2007, violence erupted in Somalia between government forces and militia fighters one day after at least 22 people were killed. Hundreds of Mogadishu residents fled their homes.

This is Easter.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include culinary expert Fannie Farmer in 1857; psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in 1900; actress Joan Crawford in 1905; Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in 1910; rocket scientist Wernher von Braun in 1912; Roger Bannister, the first person to run the mile in less than 4 minutes, in 1929 (age 79); former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson Jr., in 1938; comedian Louie Anderson and singer Chaka Khan, both in 1953 (age 55); and actresses Amanda Plummer in 1957 (age 51) and Keri Russell (Felicity) in 1976 (age 32).

In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act for taxing the American colonies, an action that became a major grievance for rebellious colonials.

In 1775, in a speech supporting the arming of the Virginia militia, Patrick Henry declared, Give me liberty or give me death.

In 1942, during World War II, Japanese-Americans were forcibly moved from their homes along the Pacific Coast to inland internment camps.

In 1966, Pope Paul VI met Britain's archbishop of Canterbury at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, the first meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches in 400 years.

In 1983, the world's first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, Barney Clark of Seattle, died in a Salt Lake City hospital.

In 1985, the United States completed the secret air evacuation of 800 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

In 1989, Dick Clark retired from hosting the TV show American Bandstand after 33 years.

In 1996, Taiwan elected Lee Teng-hui in the island's first direct presidential election.

In 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired his entire Cabinet.

Also in 1998, Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record total won by Ben-Hur in 1959.

In 1999, the vice president of Peru was assassinated.

In 2001, the United States expelled 40 Russian diplomats it said were spies. The action had come in response to the arrest of FBI agent and accused Russian spy Robert Hanssen.

Also in 2001, the Russian space station Mir was brought down in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji after more than 15 years in orbit.

In 2003, a U.S. soldier was arrested after allegedly throwing grenades into the tents of three American officers in Kuwait. Two soldiers died, 12 others were wounded.

Also, nine U.S. Marines were killed in Nasiriyah where fellow Marines found 3,000 chemical warfare suits and masks at a hospital.

In 2004, a bipartisan government commission, investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, noted in a preliminary report alarming threats about a possible al-Qaida attack months before the assault.

Also in 2004, NASA said new findings on Mars suggest an ancient sea once covered part of the planet.

In 2005, Iraqi forces attacked a training camp for suspected insurgents west of Baghdad, killing 80 gunmen in one of the largest operations to stamp out terrorism.

Also in 2005, federal investigators say there is no evidence of terrorism in the deadly BP refinery explosion in Texas City, Texas, that killed 15 workers and left several others in critical condition.

In 2006, the U.S. government rested its case in the sentencing trial of admitted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria, Va. The jury will decide whether Moussaoui could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and whether he should get the death penalty.

In 2007, eight British sailors and seven marines on a U.N. mission patrolling the Persian Gulf were seized at gunpoint by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who accused them of being in Iranian waters. The British insisted they were in Iraqi territorial waters.