Saturday, March 18, 2023 Today is the 77th day of 2023 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 speedskater; Queen Latifah (1970), actress/singer; Dane Cook (1972- ), comedian/actor; Adam Levine (1979- ), singersongwriter/ 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 $250 million.

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

TODAY’S QUOTE: “A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership in the world.” -- 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 last quarter moon (March 14) and new moon (March 21).

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Today is the 78th day of 2023 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: “There is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they’ve got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.” -- Philip Roth, “The Human Stain”

TODAY’S NUMBER: $8.28 billion -- total gaming revenue for the Las Vegas Strip in 2022.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 14) and new moon (March 21).

Monday, March 20, 2023

Today is the 79th day of 2023 and the first day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s antislavery novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was published.

In 1952, the U.S. Senate ratified a peace treaty returning sovereignty to Japan.

In 1987, the FDA approved AZT, a drug shown to delay the development of AIDS.

In 1995, members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas into the Tokyo Metro subway system, killing 12 and injuring more than 5,000.

In 2003, the United States and a coalition of allied states began military operations in Iraq.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), poet/playwright; B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), psychologist; Ozzie Nelson (1906-1975), actor/bandleader; Carl Reiner (1922-2020), comedy writer/ director/actor; Fred Rogers (1928-2003), TV personality; Hal Linden (1931- ), actor; Pat Riley (1945- ), basketball coach/executive; Bobby Orr (1948- ), hockey player; William Hurt (1950-2022), actor; Spike Lee (1957- ), filmmaker; Holly Hunter (1958- ), actress; Kathy Ireland (1963- ), model/ actress; David Thewlis (1963), actor; Michael Rapaport (1970- ), actor; Chester Bennington (1976-2017), singersongwriter.

TODAY’S FACT: The constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947, forbids the country from participating in wars.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1934, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson pitched one inning of exhibition baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. She allowed one walk and no hits.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I think Black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can’t just sit back and let other people define our existence.” Spike Lee

TODAY’S NUMBER: 542 length (in feet) of the USS Langley, commissioned on this day in 1922 as the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The USS Gerald R. Ford, a supercarrier commissioned into the Navy’s fleet in 2017, is 1,106 feet long.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 14) and new moon (March 21).