By Linda Loons
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Gary Alan Sinise (/sɪˈniːs/ sih-NEESS; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a director, producer, musician, and humanitarian. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he has been nominated for an Academy Award. Sinise has also received numerous awards and honors for his extensive humanitarian work and involvement with charitable organizations. He is a supporter of various veterans’ organizations and founded the Lt. Dan Band (named after his character in Forrest Gump), which plays at military bases around the world.
Sinise’s acting career started on stage with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1983, when he directed and starred in a production of Sam Shepard‘s True West for which he earned an Obie Award. In 1985, he earned the Regional Theatre Tony Award alongside the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He also received Tony Award nominations for his performances in The Grapes of Wrath (1988) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2001).
Sinise starred as George Milton in the 1992 film adaptation of John Steinbeck‘s novel Of Mice and Men. He also directed and produced the film. Sinise received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump (1994). He also appeared in Ron Howard‘s Apollo 13 (1995), Ransom (1996), Frank Darabont‘s The Green Mile (1999), and Impostor (2002).
On television, Sinise is known for portraying Harry S. Truman in Truman (1995), a portrayal that won him a Golden Globe Award; and for playing the title role in George Wallace, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award. Sinise is widely known for his leading role as Detective Mac Taylor in the long-running CBS series CSI: NY (2004–13). He also played Special Agent Jack Garrett in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016–17).
St. Patrick was the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.
Long before the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), the four-leaf clover was regarded by ancient Celts as a charm against evil spirits.
In the early 1900s, O. H. Benson, an Iowa school superintendent, came up with the idea of using a clover as the emblem for a newly founded agricultural club for children in his area. In 1911, the four-leaf clover was chosen as the emblem for the national club program, later named 4-H.
If you’re inclined toward the legend, lore, and festivities of the saint and how the Irish honor him, check out this St. Patrick’s Day site where you’ll find everything from parades to recipes.
On March 26, 1776, a British fleet of 125 transports and warships left Boston Harbor bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aboard were General William Howe, some 9,000 officers and men, and more than 1,000 Loyalists and their families. For nine months, the British had been unable to venture beyond the city of Boston, which was surrounded by colonial troops. The Continental Army had recently taken Dorchester Heights overlooking the harbor, which they fortified with cannons and mortars captured at Fort Ticonderoga, New York. However, in return for a promise by General Howe that Boston would not be burned, the British fleet left the harbor unmolested. The anniversary of this date is conveniently celebrated by the Irish American (and other) residents of Boston and Suffolk County on March 17.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Anders Dahl (botanist; dahlia named for him) –
- Robert B. Taney (Supreme Court justice) –
- Ella Winter (Australian-born journalist) –
- Bobby Jones (pro golfer) –
- Nat “King” Cole (entertainer) –
- James Irwin (astronaut) –
- Rudolfh Nureyev (ballet dancer) –
- John Sebastian (singer) –
- Patrick Duffy (actor) –
- Kurt Russell (actor) –
- Gary Sinise (actor) –
- Rob Lowe (actor) –
- Bill Mueller (baseball player) –
- Mia Hamm (soccer player, Olympic gold medalist) –
Died
- Helen Hayes (actress) –
- J. J. Jackson (one of the five original MTV video jockeys) –
- Andre Norton (science fiction/fantasy writer) –
- Oleg Cassini (fashion designer who created the Jackie look, the signature wardrobe created for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the early 1960s) –
Events
- On this day, St. Patrick died. As a boy, Patrick was captured and carried off from Britain to Ireland tend sheep. After six years, he escaped. Later, he to Ireland and spread the word of Christianity.–
- The Transylvania Land Company bought what became the state of Kentucky for $50,000, from a Cherokee Indian chief–
- British Army evacuated Boston–
- The rubber band was patented by Stephen Perry–
- John Phillip Holland launched first modern submarine off Staten Island, NY–
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt were married–
- Camp Fire Girls established–
- The National Gallery of Art was dedicated in Washington, D.C.–
- Gen. MacArthur arrived in Australia to assume supreme command of the Allied forces (WW II)–
- Battle of Iwo Jima ended with U.S. victory (WW II)–
- The University of California (Berkeley) announced the development of californium, a new element with the atomic number 98–
- Vanguard I spacecraft launched by U.S. at Cape Canaveral–
- USS Skate first submarine to surface at North Pole–
- UN conference of the Law of the Sea opened at Geneva, Switzerland–
- Paroxysmal eruption of Mt. Agung in Bali–
- A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, high school teacher, Golda Meir, took office as Israel’s 4th Prime Minister–
- One of the worst oil spills in history occured when supertanker Amoco Cadiz broke in two off the Brittany coast in France, dumping more than 223,000 tons of crude oil into the sea–
- Julie Croteau first woman to play NCAA baseball–
- 1,263 people dressed as leprechauns (in Bandon, Ireland), setting a world record–
Weather
- Snowstorm central and SW Tennessee; Memphis got 18.5 inches–
- Fifty degrees below zero F, Snake River, Wyoming–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
