Today is Wednesday, March 11, the 71st day of 2020. There are 295 days left in the year.

Today in history

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan’s northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and severely damaging the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station.

Also on this date:

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln removed Gen. George B. McClellan as general-in-chief of the Union armies, leaving him in command of the Army of the Potomac, a post McClellan also ended up losing.In 1888, the Blizzard of ’88, also known as the “Great White Hurricane,” began inundating the northeastern United States, resulting in about 400 deaths.In 1918, what are believed to be the first confirmed U.S. cases of a deadly global flu pandemic were reported among U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Riley, Kan.; 46 would die. (The worldwide outbreak of influenza claimed an estimated 20 to 40 million lives.)

Fun fact

Common snapping turtles have no teeth but they can produce 1000 PSI bite force with their beak and jaws, which is more than enough to bite off a finger.

That’s punny

Shout out to the people who ask what the opposite of “in” is.

Trending words

“Oleaginous:” adjective; (oh-lee-AJ-uh-nus). Definition: Resembling or having the properties of oil: oily, containing or producing oil, or marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality.

— Merriam-Webster

Today’s birthdays

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 89. Former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 86. Musician Flaco Jimenez is 81. Actress Tricia O’Neil is 75. Actor Mark Metcalf is 74. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 73. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 70. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 70. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 69. Actress Susan Richardson is 68. Recording executive Jimmy Iovine is 67. Singer Nina Hagen is 65. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 65. Actor Elias Koteas is 59. Actor-director Peter Berg is 58. Singer Mary Gauthier is 58. Actor Jeffrey Nordling is 58. Actress Alex Kingston is 57. Country musician David Talbot is 57. Actor Wallace Langham is 55. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is 55. Actor John Barrowman is 53. Singer Lisa Loeb is 52. Neo-soul musician Al Gamble (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 51. Singer Pete Droge is 51. Actor Terrence Howard is 51. Rock musician Rami Jaffee is 51. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 49. Rock singer-musicians Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte; The Madden Brothers) are 41. Actor David Anders is 39. Singer LeToya is 39. Actress Thora Birch is 38. TV personality Melissa Rycroft is 37. Actor Rob Brown is 36. Actress Jodie Comer is 27.

The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.