TODAY’S HISTORY

1882: Congress passed an act that made polygamy a felony.

1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act, which legalized the sale of alcoholic beverages.

1945: The Arab League charter was adopted in Cairo.

1995: Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned to Earth after completing the longest single spaceflight in history, at 437 days 18 hours.

2017: A terrorist attack near the Palace of Westminster in London left six dead and more than 50 injured.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Louis L’amour (1908-1988), author; Karl Malden (19122009), actor; Marcel Marceau (1923-2007), mime artist; Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), composer; William Shatner (1931-), actor; James Patterson (1947-), author; Wolf Blitzer (1948-), journalist; Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-), composer; Bob Costas (1952-), sportscaster; Keegan-michael Key (1971-), actor/comedian; Kathryn Jean Lopez (1976-), journalist; Reese Witherspoon (1976-), actress; J.J. Watt (1989-), football player.

TODAY’S FACT: The Beatles’ debut album, “Please Please Me,” was released in the United Kingdom on this day in 1963.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1894, the Montreal AAA beat the Ottawa Generals 3-1 in the first Stanley Cup championship hockey game.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.” — Louis L’amour

TODAY’S NUMBER: $297.7 billion — estimated total alcoholic beverage sales in the United States in 2023.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (March 16) and full moon (March 25).