NEA DATEBOOK

Today is the 81st day of 2023 and the third day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1882, Congress passed an act that made polygamy a felony.

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

In 1945, the Arab League charter was adopted in Cairo.

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

In 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: “I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn.” — Louis L’Amour, “Education of a Wandering Man”

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (March 21) and first quarter moon (March 28).