By Linda Loons
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Norman Earl Thagard (born July 3, 1943; Capt, USMC, Ret.), is an American scientist and former U.S. Marine Corps officer and naval aviator and NASA astronaut. He is the first American to ride to space on board a Russian vehicle, and can be considered the first American cosmonaut. He did this on March 14, 1995, in the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft for the Russian Mir-18 mission.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What does “non sequitur” mean? It is the title of a comic strip, and I can’t figure out the significance.
This Latin phrase means “it does not follow.” It is used to describe a statement that does not follow logically from anything previously said.
Advice of the Day
To remove chewing gum, rub it with vinegar.
Home Hint of the Day
Both sides of a sheet of plywood are graded. An A-A sheet would be used for furniture making. B-D might be used to panel a wall, putting the D side against the studs. D-D is used to enclose new homes, where neither surface of the plywood will be seen.
Word of the Day
Solar Cycle
A period of 28 years in the Julian calendar, at the end of which the days of the month return to the same days of the week.
Puzzle of the Day
What confections were carried on Noah’s ark?
Preserved pears (pairs)
Born
- George Clymer (merchant) –
- Caroline Herschel (astronomer) –
- James Madison (4th U.S. president) –
- Matthew Flinders (navigator & explorer) –
- Georg Ohm (physicist) –
- Anna Atkins (English botanist, photographer) –
- Conrad Nagel (actor) –
- Mike Mansfield (politician) –
- Robert Rossen (director) –
- Pat Nixon (U.S. First Lady) –
- Jerry Lewis (comedian) –
- Lauren Graham (actress) –
- Alan Tudyk (actor) –
- Blake Griffin (basketball player) –
Died
- Nathaniel Bowditch (American mathematician and navigator ) –
- Aubrey Beardsley (artist) –
- T-Bone Walker (musician) –
- Ivan Dixon (actor) –
- Frank Thornton (actor) –
Events
- First recorded fire in Boston, Massachusetts–
- United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, established–
- Freedom’s Journal, the first African American newspaper in the U.S., was printed in NYC–
- New York Stock Exchange’s predecessor set a record for its slowest trading day in history, with only 31 shares sold. (Nowadays, an average of more than a billion shares are traded each day.)–
- The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was first published–
- The Barnum and Bailey Circus made its debut in NYC–
- Robert Goddard launched first liquid fuel rocket, Auburn, MA–
- Germany abrogated the Treaty of Versailles by ordering universal military service–
- Brussels Pact, a 50-year military alliance, signed between Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg–
- Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis made his debut as a pro wrestler. He knocked out 320 pound cowboy Rocky Lee–
- Gemini VIII docked with an Agena rocket, the first docking of two vehicles in space. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott were on board the spacecraft. When it began to spin, the docking mission was aborted–
- My Lai and My Khe villagers were killed by American troops in Vietnam (Vietnam War)–
- Prisoner-of-war Col. Floyd J. Thompson released from N. Vietnam after almost 9 years–
- The Grand Ole Opry moved into its new 4,400-seat Opry House at the Opryland amusement park outside Nashville–
- William Buckley, first secretary of the U.S. embassy’s political section and CIA station chief, was kidnapped in Beirut–
- Lt. Colonel Oliver North, Vice Admiral John Poindexter, Richard Secord, and Albert Hakim were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by funneling aid to the Nicaraguan contras (Iran-contra affair)–
- Julie Croteau from St. Mary’s College in Maryland became the first woman to play on an NCAA men’s baseball team–
- Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder the investigation into the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan–
- Norman Thagard became first American to visit Russian space station Mir–
Weather
- Great New England storm moved from Gulf of Mexico to Maine–
- The Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana, crested 11 feet above flood stage–
- Storm brought 80-mph wind gust to Centerville, Utah–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
