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This day in history

Wednesday, March 26, is the 85th day of 2014. There are 280 days left in the year.

Birthdays: Conductor-composer Pierre Boulez is 89. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is 84. Actor-director Leonard Nimoy is 83. Actor Alan Arkin is 80. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is 74. Actor James Caan is 74. Author Erica Jong is 72. Journalist Bob Woodward is 71. Singer Diana Ross is 70. Rock singer Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is 66. Singer and TV personality Vicki Lawrence is 65. Actor Ernest Thomas is 65. Comedian Martin Short is 64. Movie composer Alan Silvestri is 64. TV personality Leeza Gibbons is 57. Actress Jennifer Grey is 54. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen is 54. Actor Billy Warlock is 53. Actor Eric Allan Kramer is 52. Basketball Hall of Famer John Stockton is 52. Actor Michael Imperioli is 48. Rock musician James Iha is 46. Country singer Kenny Chesney is 46. Actress Leslie Mann is 42. Actor T. R. Knight is 41. Rapper Juvenile is 39. Actress Amy Smart is 38. Actress Bianca Kajlich is 37. Actress Keira Knightley is 29. Rapper J-Kwon is 28.

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In 1812, an earthquake devastated Caracas, causing an estimated 26,000 deaths, according to the US Geological Survey.

In 1827, composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna at 56.

In 1874, poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco.

In 1892, poet Walt Whitman died in Camden, N.J., at 72.

In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first US team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.

In 1958, the US Army launched America’s third successful satellite, Explorer 3.

In 1962, the US Supreme Court, in Baker v. Carr, gave federal courts the power to order reapportionment of states’ legislative districts.

In 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.

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In 1982, groundbreaking took place in Washington for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In 1997, the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate techno-religious cult who'd committed suicide were found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

In 2009, President Obama held an Internet town hall from the White House as he pitched his $3.6 trillion budget. A 23,000-ton Norwegian-owned vessel was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coastline. (The Bow Asir was released two weeks later.) A Soyuz capsule carrying a Russian-US crew and US billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi blasted off for the international space station. All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada received a year’s probation for misleading Congress about an ex-teammate’s use of performance-enhancing drugs.

In 2013, a new study from the Society of Actuaries said that insurance companies would have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims under President Obama’s health insurance overhaul. Obama named veteran Secret Service agent Julia Pierson as the agency’s first female director. Italy’s top criminal court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox in the murder of Meredith Kercher and ordered Knox to stand trial again. (In January 2014, an appeals court upheld the murder conviction of Knox.)