- 73rd Day of 2012 / 293Remaining
- 7 Days Until Spring Begins
- Sunrise:7:23
- Sunset:7:16
- 11 Hr 53 Min
- Moon Rise:12:47am
- Moon Set:10:50am
- Moon’s Phase: 64%
- The Next Full Moon
- April 6 @ 2:20pm
- Full Pink Moon
- Full Fish Moon
- Full Sprouting Grass Moon
- Full Full Fish Moon
This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Full Fish Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
- Tides
- High:2:53am/4:43pm
- Low:9:49am/9:39pm
- Rainfall
- This Year:7.40
- Last Year:18.38
- Normal To Date:18.61
- Annual Average: 22.28
- Holidays
- Good Samaritan Involvement Day
- National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
- Planet Uranus Day
- National Coconut Torte Day
- National Agriculture Day
- Earmuffs Day
- Bretzelsonndeg-Luxembourg
- On This Day In …
- 1639 --- New College was renamed Harvard College for clergyman John Harvard.
- 1781 --- The German-born English astronomer William Hershel discovers Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. Herschel's discovery of a new planet was the first to be made in modern times, and also the first to be made by use of a telescope, which allowed Herschel to distinguish Uranus as a planet, not a star, as previous astronomers believed. Herschel, who was later knighted for his historic discovery, named the planet Georgium Sidus, or the "Georgian Planet," in honor of King George III of England. However, German astronomer Johann Bode proposed the name "Uranus" for the celestial body in order to conform to the classical mythology-derived names of other known planets. Uranus, the ancient Greek deity of the heavens, was a predecessor of the Olympian gods. By the mid-19th century, it was also the generally accepted name of the seventh planet from the sun.
- 1852 --- The New York Lantern newspaper published an Uncle Sam cartoon for the first time. The drawing was the work of Frank Henry Bellew. Through the years, the caricature changed with Uncle Sam becoming symbolic of the U.S. being just like a favorite uncle. A prime example of this symbolism were U.S. Army posters that portrayed Uncle Sam pointing and saying, “I want you!” As a result, many of us joined his ranks. Uncle Sam always wore a nifty suit of red, white and blue, a hat with stars and stripes down the trousers of both of his long legs. The origins of how he became known as Uncle Sam are varied, but include a dock worker wondering what the words “From U.S.” meant on shipping crates. Reportedly, he was told jokingly, “Oh, this is from your Uncle Sam.”
- 1868 --- The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the United States Senate.
- 1881 --- Czar Alexander II, the ruler of Russia since 1855, is killed in the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of the revolutionary "People's Will" group. The People's Will, organized in 1879, employed terrorism and assassination in their attempt to overthrow Russia's czarist autocracy. They murdered officials and made several attempts on the czar's life before finally assassinating him on March 13, 1881. As czar, Alexander did much to liberalize and modernize Russia, including the abolishment of serfdom in 1861. However, when his authority was challenged, he turned repressive, and he vehemently opposed movements for political reform. Ironically, on the very day he was killed, he signed a proclamation--the so-called Loris-Melikov constitution--that would have created two legislative commissions made up of indirectly elected representatives.
- 1884 --- Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.
- 1877 --- Chester Greenwood of Farmington, ME patented the earmuff. Of course, being in very Northern Maine, he picked the right place to patent such much-needed outdoor gear, as it is extremely cold in upstate Maine for, oh, about 10 months a year. So cold, that some wear earmuffs indoors.
- 1893 --- The original Waldorf Hotel opened. It had 450 rooms and almost 1,000 employees.
- 1901 --- Andrew Carnegie announced that he was retiring from business and that he would spend the rest of his days giving away his fortune. His net worth was estimated at $300 million.
- 1915 --- Wilbert Robinson (Uncle Robby), manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, attempted to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane. Someone had substituted a grapefruit instead, which virtually exploded in his glove on impact, covering him with grapefruit pulp and juice, much to the amusement of his team.
- 1923 --- A great improvement in radio receivers was advertised. The new models had a concealed speaker and eliminated the need for headphones, which were considered a nuisance because they were so heavy to wear.
- 1930 --- It was announced that the planet Pluto had been discovered by scientist Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory.
- 1961 --- Matel introduced a doll named Ken Carson, a boyfriend for Barbie.
- 1961 --- President John F. Kennedy proposes a 10-year, multibillion-dollar aid program for Latin America. The program came to be known as the Alliance for Progress and was designed to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, which had been severely damaged in recent years. When Kennedy became president in 1961, U.S. relations with Latin America were at an all-time low. The Latin American republics were disappointed with U.S. economic assistance after World War II. They argued that they had supported America during the war by increasing their production of vital raw materials and keeping their prices low--when the United States began massive aid programs to Europe and Japan after the war, Latin American nations protested that they also deserved economic assistance. Their anger was apparent during Vice President Richard Nixon's trip through the region in 1958, when a mob attacked his car at a stop in Caracas.
- 1972 --- The Merv Griffin Show, starring perennial game show and late-night TV host, singer and pianist, Merv Griffin, debuted in syndication for Metromedia Television. Joining Merv were sidekick, Arthur Treacher and Mort Lindsey and his orchestra. Griffin had a number one song with the Freddy Martin Orchestra in the 1940s. I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts launched him to fame and fortune. Griffin battled against Johnny Carson on CBS-TV late night. Merv lost. He also went against Joey Bishop over on ABC late night. Again, Merv lost; but won big in the Metromedia show; and in ownership of stations such as WPIX-TV in New York, WPOP Radio in Hartford, CT. Later, he devised Wheel of Fortune and the formula for the popular, syndicated show, Jeopardy; making him one of the richest entertainment moguls in the world. Griffin also owns hotels in Atlantic City, NJ and Beverly Hills.
- 1973 --- Pink Floyd released "Dark Side of the Moon".
- 1991 --- Romanian peasant Calin Florea dug up his prize German-made Lanz tractor, which he had buried in his garden 35 years earlier to prevent a communist co-op from confiscating it. He cleaned the engine and it cranked right up.
- 2003 --- A report in the journal "Nature" reported that scientists had found 350,000-year-old human footprints in Italy. The 56 prints were made by three early, upright-walking humans that were descending the side of a volcano.
- Birthdays
- Percival Lowell
- William H. Macy
- Dana Delany
- Neil Sedaka
- Adam Clayton(U2)
- L. Ron Hubbard
- Rosalind Elias
- Abigail Fillmore
- Sammy Kaye
- Mike Stoller
- Charles Grey, 2nd Earl (Earl Grey was supposedly given the recipe for Earl Grey Tea by a Chinese mandarin with whom he was friends. English Whig party leader and prime minister 1830-34)