FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, a record for all weight classes. Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history.

Louis’s cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport’s color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor’s exemption in a PGA event in 1952.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

St. Urho’s Day

Purim Begins (at sundown)

Purim 2021 will begin at sundown on March 16 and conclude at nightfall on Friday, the 26th. One of the merriest days of the Jewish year is the early-spring holiday of Purim, celebrated on the 14th day of the month of Adar. It commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from the massacre plotted by Haman, the chief minister of King Ahasuerus of Persia. The source of the holiday is the biblical Book of Esther, which is read during special Purim services that are marked by great revelry. Each time Haman’s name is read, congregants drown it out by making as much noise as possible—whistling, catcalling, hissing, booing, stomping, or using groggers (special Purim noisemakers). One of the traditional foods of this celebration is hamantaschen, a three-cornered filled pastry supposed to represent Haman’s hat.

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

Sun Fast/SlowWhen a sundial reading is behind (slow) or ahead of (fast) clock time.

Puzzle of the Day

What is lengthened by being cut at both ends?A ditch

Born

• George Clymer (merchant) – 1739
• Caroline Herschel (astronomer) – 1750
• James Madison (4th U.S. president) – 1751
• Matthew Flinders (navigator & explorer) – 1774
• Georg Ohm (physicist) – 1789
• Anna Atkins (English botanist, photographer) – 1799
• Conrad Nagel (actor) – 1897
• Mike Mansfield (politician) – 1903
• Robert Rossen (director) – 1908
• Pat Nixon (U.S. First Lady) – 1912
• Jerry Lewis (comedian) – 1926
• Lauren Graham (actress) – 1967
• Alan Tudyk (actor) – 1971

Died

• Aubrey Beardsley (artist) – 1898
• T-Bone Walker (musician) – 1975
• Ivan Dixon (actor) – 2008
• Frank Thornton (actor) – 2013

Events

• First recorded fire in Boston, Massachusetts– 1630
• United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, established– 1802
• Freedom’s Journal, the first African American newspaper in the U.S., was printed in NYC– 1827
• 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.)– 1830
• The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was first published– 1850
• The Barnum and Bailey Circus made its debut in NYC– 1881
• Robert Goddard launched first liquid fuel rocket, Auburn, MA– 1926
• Germany abrogated the Treaty of Versailles by ordering universal military service– 1935
• Brussels Pact, a 50-year military alliance, signed between Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg– 1948
• Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis made his debut as a pro wrestler. He knocked out 320 pound cowboy Rocky Lee– 1956
• 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– 1966
• My Lai and My Khe villagers were killed by American troops in Vietnam (Vietnam War)– 1968
• Prisoner-of-war Col. Floyd J. Thompson released from N. Vietnam after almost 9 years– 1973
• The Grand Ole Opry moved into its new 4,400-seat Opry House at the Opryland amusement park outside Nashville– 1974
• William Buckley, first secretary of the U.S. embassy’s political section and CIA station chief, was kidnapped in Beirut– 1984
• 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)– 1988
• Julie Croteau from St. Mary’s College in Maryland became the first woman to play on an NCAA men’s baseball team– 1989
• Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder the investigation into the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan– 1994
• Norman Thagard became first American to visit Russian space station Mir– 1995

Weather

• Great New England storm moved from Gulf of Mexico to Maine– 1843
• The Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana, crested 11 feet above flood stage– 1939
• Storm brought 80-mph wind gust to Centerville, Utah– 1988

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