TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1794, the United States Navy was formed. In 1964, the largest U.S. earthquake, at a magnitude of 9.2, struck Alaska. In 2002, President Bush signed a sweeping campaign finance reform bill into law.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923), scientist/inventor; Gloria Swanson (1899-1983), actress; Sarah Vaughan (1924-90), singer; Quentin Tarantino (1963- ), filmmaker, is 45; Mariah Carey (1970- ), singer, is 38.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1902, a Chicago Daily News reporter first dubbed the Chicago National League baseball team the Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." - George Orwell

TODAY'S FACT: Wilhelm Roentgen, the Nobel prize winning discoverer of X-rays, took his first medical x-ray of his wife's hand.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9.5 - magnitude of the largest recorded earthquake, which struck off the coast of Chile on May 22, 1960.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 21) and last quarter (March 29).