GOOD MORNING – TODAY IS TUESDAY, March 31, the 90th day of 2015 with 275 to follow. Sunrise in the Boston area is @ 6:29 and sunset is @ 7:07. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are stars are Mercury, Neptune & Saturn. The evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Uranus & Venus.

ON THIS DAY IN: 1492 – King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews from Spanish soil, except those willing to convert to Christianity.

1836 – The first monthly installment of “The Pickwick Papers” by Charles Dickens was published in London.

1880 – The first electric street lights installed by a municipality are turned on in Wabash,Indiana.

1889 – The Eiffel Tower officially opened in Paris. It was designed by French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.

1896 – The first zip fastener was patented in the U.S. by its inventor, Whitcomb Judson.

1916 – U.S. General John Pershing and his army routed Pancho Villa’s army in Mexico.

1917 – The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.

1918 – Daylight Saving Time went into effect throughout the United States for the first time.

1923 – The first U.S. dance marathon was held, in New York City.

1933 – Congress authorized the Civilian Conservation Corps, to relieve unemployment.

1940 – La Guardia Airport in New York officially opened to the public.

1949 – Newfoundland became Canada’s 10th province.

1954 – The U.S. Air Force Academy was established at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1959 – The (14th) Dalai Lama reached India after fleeing Chinese suppression in Tibet, was granted political asylum and began his exile.

1968 – U.S. President Lyndon Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office.

1976 – The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan, who remained comatose, died in 1985.)

1995 – Baseball players agreed to end their 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.