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 financier Andrew Mellon in 1855; magician and escape artist Harry Houdini in 1874; silent film star Fatty Arbuckle in 1887; pioneer Disney film animator Ub Iwerks in 1901; Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey in 1902; poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1919 (age 89); actors Norman Fell in 1924 and Steve McQueen in 1930; dress designer Bob Mackie in 1940 (age 68); and actresses Donna Pescow in 1954 (age 54), Annabella Sciorra in 1964 (age 44) and Laura Flynn Boyle in 1970 (age 38), and pro football star Peyton Manning in 1976 (age 32).

In 1603, after 44 years of rule, Queen Elizabeth I of England died. She was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland, uniting England and Scotland under a single British monarch.

In 1934, the United States granted the Philippine Islands its independence, effective July 4, 1946.

In 1965, white civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo of Detroit was killed on a road near Selma, Ala.

In 1975, the beaver became the official symbol of Canada.

In 1976, Argentine President Isabel Peron, widow of strongman ruler Juan Peron, was arrested in a military coup.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Gulf of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil in the largest oil tanker spill in U.S. history.

In 1991, 12 people were killed and 29 wounded when South African police fired on ANC supporters at a rally in a black township in Daveytown after ordering the crowd to disperse.

In 1993, the suspected ringleader of the first World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 was arrested in Egypt and extradited to New York.

In 1998, four girls and a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., were killed by bullets fired from a nearby wooded area. Police arrested two boys, ages 11 and 13, in connection with the slayings.

In 1999, NATO launched attacks on targets in Yugoslavia after the Serbs refused to sign a peace agreement worked out for the future of the rebellious province of Kosovo.

In 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that coalition forces were well on their way to Baghdad and victory in Iraq was certain despite some anxious moments ahead.

Also in 2003, in Iraq, Saddam Hussein appeared on television appealing to Iraqis to hold firm against the U.S.-led coalition.

In 2004, the U.S. commission examining anti-terror measures said several opportunities to capture or kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden were called off.

Also in 2004, the European Commission fined software giant Microsoft $613 million for breaking EU antitrust rules.

In 2005, the Philippine army broke a plot by Muslim extremists to detonate bombs throughout Manila on Easter Sunday, according to reports.

Also in 2005, the president of Kyrgyzstan was forced to flee his palace in the face of a popular uprising. The president, Askar Akayev, said Mafia elements were behind the widespread protests.

In 2006, the American Red Cross investigated New Orleans reports of massive losses of cash and supplies in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. The Red Cross got roughly 60 percent of the $3.6 billion Americans donated for hurricane relief.

In 2007, the U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to ban Iranian arms exports over the government's refusal to abandon its nuclear program. Also approved was the freezing of assets of 28 individuals and agencies involved in Iranian nuclear research.

Also in 2007, at least 41 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a string of explosions and fighting across Iraq.

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 conductor Arturo Toscanini in 1867; Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum in 1867; composer Bela Bartok in 1881; film director David Lean in 1908; sports commentator Howard Cosell in 1920; French actress Simone Signoret in 1921; astronaut James Lovell in 1928 (age 80); feminist writer Gloria Steinem in 1934 (age 74); singer Anita Bryant in 1940 (age 68); soul singer Aretha Franklin in 1942 (age 66); actor/director Paul Michael Glaser in 1943 (age 65); pop star Elton John in 1947 (age 61); actresses Bonnie Bedelia in 1948 (age 60) and Sarah Jessica Parker in 1965 (age 43); Olympic silver medalist figure skater Debi Thomas in 1967 (age 41), and race driver Danica Patrick in 1982 (age 26).

In 1634, the first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement's Island on Maryland's western shore and founded the settlement of St. Mary's.

In 1807, the English Parliament abolished the slave trade.

In 1911, 147 people died when they were trapped by a fire that swept the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in New York City.

In 1947, a mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., killed 111 men, most of them asphyxiated by gas.

In 1954, the Radio Corporation of America began commercial production of color television sets.

In 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community, also known as the common market.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a deranged nephew at his palace in Riyadh.

In 1990, an arson fire swept an overcrowded, illegal Bronx social club, killing 87 people in the worst mass slaying in U.S. history at the time and the deadliest New York blaze since the Triangle Shirt Waist factory disaster exactly 79 years earlier. Julio Gonzalez, 36, was charged with arson and murder.

In 1992, in a further sign of the capitalist revolution, veterans of the former Soviet KGB announced plans to sell cloak-and-dagger tales to Hollywood for movies and TV.

In 1994, the last U.S. soldiers left Mogadishu, Somalia, although a handful remained behind to protect U.S. diplomats and to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers.

In 1997, Chinese Premiere Li Peng, during a meeting in Beijing with U.S. Vice President Al Gore, denied reports that China had funneled campaign cash to the Clinton-Gore campaign.

In 1998, the first known physician-assisted suicide to be legal under Oregon state law was reported by the group Compassion In Dying.

In 2002, a massive earthquake devastated rural areas of Afghanistan. The quake, with a 6.1 magnitude, killed at least 600.

In 2004, a U.S. Army report said less than one-third of U.S. soldiers suffering from depression, anxiety or traumatic stress after combat in Iraq received mental health treatment. Officials were looking into 23 U.S. suicides.

In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people protested in Los Angeles against proposed U.S. legislation that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally.

In 2007, leaders of the European Union adopted the Berlin Declaration, a non-binding statement of common values and future goals.

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 in history are under the sign of Aries. They include poet Robert Frost in 1874; playwright Tennessee Williams in 1911; French composer/conductor Pierre Boulez in 1925 (age 83); former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 1930 (age 78); actors Leonard Nimoy in 1931 (age 77), Alan Arkin in 1934 (age 74) and James Caan in 1940 (age 68); author Erica Jong in 1942 (age 66); author/journalist Bob Woodward in 1943 (age 65); singers Diana Ross in 1944 (age 64) and Teddy Pendergrass in 1950 (age 58); actors Vicki Lawrence in 1949 (age 59) and Martin Short in 1950 (age 58); TV personality Leeza Gibbons in 1957 (age 51); and actress Jennifer Grey in 1960 (age 48).

In 1859, astronomers reported sighting a new planet in an orbit near Mercury. They named it Vulcan, now believed to have been a rogue asteroid making a one-time pass close to the sun.

In 1953, U.S. medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announced on a national radio show that he had successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio.

In 1971, East Pakistan achieved independence as Bangladesh.

In 1975, the city of Hue in South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese army.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty at the White House, ending 30 years of hostilities.

In 1991, Mali's dictator was overthrown in violent overnight military coup. Fifty- nine people died.

Also in 1991, the Pakistani hijackers of a Singapore Airlines jet were killed by government commandos in Singapore. The passengers and crew members were safe.

In 1992, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison for raping a teenage beauty pageant contestant.

Also in 1992, Soviet cosmonaut Serge Krikalev, after spending 313 days in orbit aboard the Mir space station, returned to Earth a citizen of a new country, Russia. While he was in space, the Soviet Union had crumbled.

In 1993, Russia's Congress of People's Deputies, called into session by an impeachment-minded parliament, backed away from a bid to unseat President Boris Yeltsin.

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate religious cult were found dead in a large house in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in an apparent mass suicide.

In 1998, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit South Africa.

In 1999, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the euthanasia advocate, was convicted of second-degree murder in an Oakland County, Mich., courtroom for the videotaped medicide of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

In 2000, acting Russian President Vladimir Putin was elected president by a more than 20 percent margin.

In 2003, fierce hand-to-hand combat with bayonets broke out between Iraqi citizens and Saddam Fedayeen in the southern city of Basra. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 soldiers parachuted into northern Iraq seeking to unite the anti-Saddam Kurds.

In 2005, the family of Terri Schiavo said no more federal appeals on behalf of the brain-damaged Florida woman were planned after a judge rejected an emergency plea to have her feeding tube reinserted. The battle had reached the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2006, reports say discovery of the bodies of 30 beheaded men in Iraq suggested death squads were becoming out of control.

Also, in 2006, Ukraine's opposition Regions Party won the parliamentary elections, with former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich returning to his post under President Viktor Yushchenko.

And, Scotland banned smoking in all public places. A BBC poll found about 21 percent of adults surveyed said they would ignore the law.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush met with chairmen of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to discuss alternative fuels. Bush wanted gasoline consumption reduced by 20 percent over the next decade.

Also in 2007, rival leaders of Northern Ireland met for the first time to work out a power-sharing government.

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 printmaker Nathaniel Currier, of Currier and Ives, in 1813; German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, discoverer of X-rays, in 1845; schoolteacher Patty Smith Hill, who wrote the words for Happy Birthday to You, in 1868; photographer Edward Steichen in 1879; architect Mies van der Rohe in 1886; actress Gloria Swanson in 1899; jazz singer Sarah Vaughan in 1924; actor Michael York in 1942 (age 66); filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in 1963 (age 45); and singer Mariah Carey in 1970 (age 38).

In 1958, Nikita Khrushchev replaced Nikolai Bulganin as premier of the Soviet Union.

In 1964, a powerful earthquake in Alaska killed 117 people. It was the strongest quake to hit North America.

In 1977, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided and exploded in flames on a foggy runway in the Canary Islands, killing 577 people in the worst aviation disaster in history.

In 1980, a Norwegian oil platform capsized during a storm in the North Sea, killing 123 people.

In 1990, Soviet soldiers dragged Lithuanian army deserters from a hospital in Vilnius and took over the headquarters of Lithuania's independent Communist Party in an effort to reassert Moscow's control over the dissident Baltic republic.

In 1996, an Israeli court convicted Yigal Amir of assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and sentenced him to life in prison.

In 2002, a suicide bomber killed himself and 19 Israelis attending a Passover meal at a hotel in Netanya. More than 100 others were injured.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush, seeking to calm concerns that the war in Iraq is proving tougher than expected after its first week, said the United States and Britain will battle Saddam Hussein's forces however long it takes to win.

Also in 2003, health officials said 1,408 people in 14 countries had been stricken with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and 53 had died, including at least 34 in China.

In 2004, NASA reported its unmanned experimental hypersonic plane reached about 5,000 mph in a test flight -- more than seven times the speed of sound.

In 2005, ailing Pope John Paul II appeared at his apartment window before an Easter crowd in St. Peter's Square but was unable to speak. He silently blessed thousands of pilgrims who wept and cheered.

Also in 2005, about 1 million chanting demonstrators converged on Taiwan's capital to protest China's Anti-Secession Law.

In 2006, a U.S. Senate committee approved a plan designed to legalize the United States' 11 million illegal immigrants.

Also in 2006, a suicide bomber outside a police recruiting center in northern Iraq killed at least 30 people and wounded 30 others.

In 2007, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered a deal between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet twice a week to address security issues.

Also in 2007, leaders of Myanmar, formerly Burma, staged a military parade to show off their new capital city, Naypyidaw.

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 Russian author Maxim Gorky in 1868; brewers Frederick Pabst in 1836 and August Anheuser Busch Jr. in 1899; famed Hollywood agent Irving Swifty Lazar in 1907; Edmund Muskie, the 1968 Democratic vice presidential candidate, in 1914; child star Freddie Bartholomew in 1924; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter administration national security adviser, in 1928 (age 80); actors Dirk Bogarde in 1921, Conchata Ferrell in 1943 (age 65), Ken Howard in 1944 (age 64) and Dianne Wiest in 1948 (age 60); and country singer Reba McEntire in 1955 (age 53).

In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs was awarded a patent for the first washing machine.

In 1881, P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey merged their circuses to form The Greatest Show on Earth.

In 1939, Madrid surrendered to the nationalist forces of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1968, the counterculture musical Hair opened on Broadway.

In 1969, Dwight D. Eisenhower, World War II hero and 34th president of the United States, died in Washington at age 78.

In 1979, a failure in the cooling system at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania caused a near meltdown. It was the worst accident at a U.S. civilian nuclear facility.

In 1991, just days before the 10th anniversary of the attempt on his life, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan endorsed a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases, reversing his earlier opposition.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment vote by the Congress of People's Deputies.

Also in 1993, French voters rejected the ruling Socialists and gave the conservative alliance a crushing majority in legislative elections.

In 1994, pre-election clashes between Zulu nationalists, the ANC and police claimed 53 lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress approved the presidential line-item veto.

In 1997, an Italian warship collided with an Albanian ship crowded with refugees, causing an undetermined number of deaths.

In 2002, the U.S. Justice Department said it would seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged at the time as a co-conspirator in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In 2004, more than 40 people were reported killed in a series of bombings and gun battles in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan.

In 2005, a massive earthquake jolted the western coast of Sumatra reportedly killing as many as 3,000 people and destroying hundreds of buildings.

In 2006, the U.S. Senate voted to prohibit lobbyists from giving lawmakers gifts and meals. Also on this date, powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with ties to several members of Congress, drew a six-year prison sentence for fraud in Florida.

Also in 2006, the French Constitutional Council validated a hotly contested youth labor law despite a general strike that ground public life to a near halt and about 100 protests in Paris and across the nation.

In 2007, in a speech to members of the Arab League meeting in Saudi Arabia, Saudi King Abdullah called the U.S. occupation of Iraq illegal.

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 John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, in 1790; baseball pitching legend Cy Young in 1867; Eugene McCarthy, the Minnesota Democrat whose 1968 presidential campaign focused U.S. opposition to the Vietnam War, in 1916; actress/singer Pearl Bailey, and Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, both in 1918; former British Prime Minister John Major and actor Eric Idle, both in 1943 (age 65); former pro basketball star Walt Frazier in 1945 (age 63); Karen Ann Quinlan, who became the focus of arguments over the right to die when she fell into an irreversible coma, in 1954; gymnast Kurt Thomas in 1956 (age 52); actors Christopher Lambert in 1957 (age 51) and Lucy Lawless in 1968 (age 40); and tennis star Jennifer Capriati in 1976 (age 32).

In 1812, the first wedding was performed in the White House. Lucy Payne Washington, sister-in-law of U.S. President James Madison, married Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dodd.

In 1971, U.S. Army Lt. William Calley was found guilty in the killing of 22 civilians in Vietnam, an event known as the My Lai massacre.

Also in 1971, cult leader Charles Manson and three followers were sentenced to death in the infamous Tate-Labianca slayings in Los Angeles. The death sentence was later ruled unconstitutional and the four were re-sentenced to life in prison.

In 1973, the last U.S. troops left South Vietnam and the last U.S. prisoners of war acknowledged by the North Vietnamese government were freed.

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations released its final report on the assassinations of U.S. President John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

In 1991, six-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti quit, paving the way for the country's 50th government since World War II.

In 1994, Bosnian Serbs stepped up their bombardment of Gorazde, 35 miles southeast of Sarajevo and one of the U.N.-designated safe areas.

In 1996, the U.S. House of Representatives ethics committee said Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., violated House rules by having close dealings with a wealthy GOP donor with business interests affected by congressional action. It was the third time in two months the panel said Gingrich had broken the rules.

In 2003, Iraq introduced a new tactic in its war with the U.S.-led coalition when a suicide bomber blew up his taxi and killed four U.S. soldiers near Najaf.

Also in 2003, a Newsweek poll, published 10 days after the start of the Iraq war, showed 74 percent of Americans thought the Bush administration had a well thought-out military plan. Other polls showed otherwise, however, and there were anti-war demonstrations around the world.

In 2005, an independent panel investigating the U.N. Iraq Oil-for-Food Program cleared U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of any wrongdoing but faulted his son and top aides.

In 2006, Duke University's men's lacrosse season was suspended pending a police investigation into allegations three team members raped a woman at a party.

Also in 2006, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party narrowly won the national election, taking 28 seats, forcing it into a coalition situation.

In 2007, sectarian violence flared in Iraq as 60 people were reported killed in a Baghdad Shiite neighborhood and more then 30 others died in coordinated attacks in the Shiite town of Khlais. Earlier, about 140 were reported dead in Tal Afar violence.

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 Spanish painter Francisco Jose de Goya in 1746; English author Anna Sewell (Black Beauty) in 1820; English social reformer Charles Booth in 1840; Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh in 1853; Irish dramatist Sean O'Casey in 1880; former CIA Director Richard Helms in 1913; singer Frankie Laine also in 1913; TV host Peter Marshall in 1927 (age 81); actors Richard Dysart in 1929 (age 79), John Astin in 1930 (age 78) and Warren Beatty in 1937 (age 71); British blues/rock guitarist Eric Clapton in 1945 (age 63); actor Paul Reiser in 1957 (age 51); and singers MC Hammer in 1962 (age 46), Tracy Chapman in 1964 (age 44), Celine Dion in 1968 (age 40) and Norah Jones in 1979 (age 29).

In 1842, Dr. Crawford Long became the first physician to use anesthetic (ether) in surgery.

In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward reached an agreement with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million in gold.

In 1870, following its ratification by the requisite three-fourths of the states, the 15th Amendment, granting African-American men the right to vote was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution.

In 1923, the Cunard liner Laconia arrived in New York City, becoming the first passenger ship to circumnavigate the world, a cruise of 130 days.

In 1975, the South Vietnamese city of Da Nang fell to North Vietnamese forces.

In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington hotel. White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a Washington police officer also were wounded. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

In 1995, the compromise don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue policy allowing homosexuals to serve in the military under certain conditions was struck down by a federal judge in New York as unconstitutional.

In 1998, Armenian Premier Robert Kocharian was elected president in a run-off election in the former Soviet republic.

In 1999, a jury in Oregon awarded $81 million in damages to the family of a smoker who had died from lung cancer. A state judge later reduced the punitive portion to $32 million.

In 2003, an Iraqi spokesman said that 4,000 volunteers from 23 countries were ready to carry out suicide attacks against the U.S.-led coalition.

In 2005, Vatican officials said the ailing Pope John Paul II had a nasal feeding tube inserted after reportedly having trouble swallowing. The next day the 84-year-old pontiff was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2006, journalist Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, was freed in Baghdad after being held for 82 days by kidnappers.

In 2007, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Palestinian refugees wouldn't be allowed to return to their original homes in what is now Israel, one of the provisions listed by 21 Arab leaders as necessary to normalize relations.