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The Almanac -- weekly(UPI Quirks in the News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Today is Monday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2008 with 100 to follow.Autumn begins at 11:44 p.m. Eastern time. The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include English statesman and wit Philip Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield, in 1694; English chemist and physicist Michael Faraday in 1791; filmmaker Eric Von Stroheim in 1885; humorist Frank Sullivan in 1892; actor Paul Muni in 1895; producer/actor John Houseman in 1902; actor Allan Rocky Lane, B-movie cowboy star of the 1940s and later the TV voice of Mr. Ed, in 1904; former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda in 1927 (age 81); actor Eugene Roche in 1928; singers Debby Boone in 1956 (age 52) and Joan Jett in 1960 (age 48); and actors Scott Baio, Bonnie Hunt and Catherine Oxenberg, all in 1961 (age 47). On this date in history:In 1776, the British hanged American Revolutionary War hero and patriot Nathan Hale. His famous last words were, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. In 1927, Jack Dempsey muffed a chance to regain the heavyweight championship when he knocked down Gene Tunney but failed to go to a neutral corner promptly, thereby delaying the referee's count and giving the champ time to get up. In 1949, the U.S. nuclear monopoly ended as the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb. In 1975, self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore attempted to kill U.S. President Gerald Ford as he walked from a San Francisco hotel. A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd. In 1980, long-standing border disputes and political turmoil in Iran prompted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran's oil-producing province of Khuzestan, touching off a costly, eight-year war. In 1985, more than 50 rock and country stars, headed by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, staged the 14-hour Farm Aid concert for 78,000 rain-soaked spectators in Champaign, Ill., raising $10 million for debt-ridden U.S. farmers. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo slashed through Charleston and coastal South Carolina with 135-mph winds, claiming at least 28 lives. Also in 1989, Irving Berlin, whose long list of enduring songs include God Bless America and White Christmas, died in his sleep at his home in New York City at the age of 101. In 1992, two beluga whales at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium died shortly after being given medication for parasites. Animal rights groups called for a nationwide moratorium on whale captures. In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled his healthcare reform package in a speech before a joint session of Congress. In 1999, the U.S. Justice Department sued five major U.S. tobacco companies and two defunct lobbying groups, charging they colluded to defraud the public about the addictive nature of tobacco products. In 2003, a bomb exploded outside the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing the bomber and a guard and wounding 19. Three days later, the United Nations said it was withdrawing more staff from Iraq. In 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation removing agricultural sales barriers and student visitation limits to Cuba. In 2005, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 to recommend the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States, succeeding the late William Rehnquist. In 2006, Indian officials said the train bombings at Mumbai in which nearly 200 people died, was hatched in Pakistan and not carried out by al-Qaida. In 2007, Alberto Fujimori, the former president of Peru, returned home from his Chilean exile to face charges of corruption and human rights abuse. A thought for the day: U.S. author and writing teacher Brenda Ueland wrote, "... all children have creative power."Today is Tuesday, Sept. 23, the 267th day of 2008 with 99 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Roman Emperor Augustus in 63 B.C.; educator William McGuffey, author of the McGuffey eclectic readers for school children, in 1800; feminist and presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull in 1838; surgeon William Halsted, who introduced operations for hernia and breast cancer, in 1852; journalist Walter Lippmann in 1889; actor Walter Pidgeon in 1897; actor Mickey Rooney in 1920 (age 88); jazz saxophonist John Coltrane in 1926; soul singer/pianist Ray Charles in 1930; singer Julio Iglesias in 1943 (age 65); actors Paul Peterson in 1945 (age 63) and Mary Kay Place in 1947 (age 61); rock star Bruce Springsteen in 1949 (age 59); actors Jason Alexander in 1959 (age 49) and Elizabeth Pena in 1959 (age 49); and singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco in 1970 (age 38). On this date in history:In 1779, the USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated British frigate HMS Serapis in a battle off the coast of Scotland. In 1806, U.S. explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast and back. In 1846, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory. Neptune generally is the eighth planet from the sun. In 1950, Congress adopted the Internal Security Act, which provided for the registration of communists. It was ruled later unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1966, a Rolling Stones concert at England's Royal Albert concert hall was halted temporarily when screaming girls attacked Mick Jagger onstage. The riotous enthusiasm of the fans resulted in a ban of pop concerts at the hall. In 1973, Juan Peron was again elected president of Argentina after 18 years in exile. His second wife, Isabel, became vice president and succeeded him when he died 10 months later. In 1985, nine days of street fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon, left 183 people dead. In 1991, 44 U.N. inspectors were detained in Baghdad after attempting to remove secret Iraqi plans for building nuclear weapons. They were freed five days later. In 1992, the worst storm in years struck southeastern France, triggering flash flooding that left 34 people dead and 50 missing. In 1993, the Israeli Knesset approved the peace agreement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In 1999, Russian planes began three days of attacks on various targets in Chechnya, in response to several bombings in Moscow and other Russian cities. In 2001, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the nation remained on increased alert for possible suspects in this country while troops in Afghanistan searched for Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network. The FAA halted crop-dusting activities, fearing they might be used to spread toxic substances. In 2003, Thai police reportedly foiled an al-Qaida plot to shoot down an El Al passenger jet with a surface-to-air missile at Bangkok's airport. In 2004, Haiti's death toll from flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne could top 2,000 according to a Haitian civil defense official. Also in 2004, a classified report for the U.S. Congress said security screeners at 15 U.S. airports missed weapons and explosives being smuggled aboard aircraft by undercover agents during a series of tests. In 2005, a reported 24 people were killed when a bus carrying Texas nursing home evacuees from Hurricane Rita was destroyed by an explosion and fire near Dallas. In 2006, as observance of this year's holy month of Ramadan began in Iraq, a bomb that killed at least 35 people, mostly women lined up for kerosene in Sadr City. Also in 2006, the New York Times said a classified U.S. intelligence report claims the Iraq invasion made the world less safe from terrorism. In 2007, Yasuo Fukuda, a long-time political force and son of a former prime minister, was chosen prime minister of Japan, succeeding Shinzo Abe, who resigned amid financial scandals. Also in 2007, the U.S. Air Force sought to determine how six powerful nuclear warheads were accidentally shipped from North Dakota to Louisiana with no one noticing and sat unguarded for a day. A thought for the day: Indian Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore said, "The artist is the lover of Nature, therefore he is her slave and her master."Today is Wednesday, Sept. 24, the 268th day of 2008 with 98 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include novelist Horace Walpole in 1717; John Marshall, fourth chief justice of the United States, in 1755; French chemist Georges Claude, inventor of the neon lamp, in 1870; novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1896; sports announcer Jim McKay in 1921; actors/singers Sheila MacRae in 1924 (age 84) and Anthony Newley in 1931; Muppet creator Jim Henson in 1936; singer/photographer Linda Eastman McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, in 1941; actor Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue) in 1948 (age 60); comedian Phil Hartman in 1948; and actor Kevin Sorbo in 1958 (age 50). On this date in history:The Judiciary Act of 1789 was passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. The number of justices became nine in 1869. In 1929, aviator James Doolittle demonstrated the first blind takeoff and landing, using only instruments to guide his aircraft. In 1942, as World War II raged, popular bandleader Glenn Miller ended his long-running radio show and announced he was going into the U.S. Army. He was succeeded on radio by Harry James. In 1959, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev met at Camp David, Md. In 1986, the U.S. Congress adopted the rose as the national flower. In 1993, in an address at the United Nations, South African black leader Nelson Mandela called for the lifting of remaining international economic sanctions against South Africa. In 1994, it was reported that CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames had exposed 55 secret U.S. and allied operations to the Soviet Union. In 1996, Israel opened a second entrance to a tunnel used by archeologists at the Temple Mount, sacred to Muslims as well as Jews. The action sparked deadly rioting. In 1998, Iran's foreign minister announced that Iran had dropped its 1989 call for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses which many Muslims found blasphemous. In 2002, armed assailants killed 29 people and wounded 75 in an attack on a Hindu temple in Gandhinagar, India. In 2003, a Gallup poll indicated that 67 percent of Baghdad residents polled said the removal of Saddam Hussein was worth the hardships they had endured. In 2005, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina devastated wide areas of the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Rita came ashore near the Texas-Louisiana state line with another destructive but somewhat softer blow. Much of the area had been evacuated but immense rains and high winds created more problems and parts of New Orleans that had dried out were again flooded. In 2006, a U.S. intelligence report said the war in Iraq had fueled global terrorism by fanning Islamic radicalism and creating new types of lethal terror methods. In 2007, some 73,000 United Auto Workers went on strike against General Motors when contract negotiations bogged down over wages and benefits. The walkout lasted less than two days. Also in 2007, mass protests against the Myanmar military junta culminated in a march by about 100,000 people, led by an estimated 20,000 Buddhist monks and nuns, in Yangon. A thought for the day: Muppet creator Jim Henson said: "The most sophisticated people I know -- inside they are all children."Today is Thursday, Sept. 25, the 269th day of 2008 with 97 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include novelist William Faulkner in 1897; sports columnist Walter Red Smith in 1905; Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich in 1906; actor Aldo Ray in 1926; TV personality Barbara Walters in 1931 (age 77); actor Robert Walden in 1943 (age 65); actor/producer Michael Douglas in 1944 (age 64); actors Mark Hamill (Star Wars) in 1951 (age 57), Christopher Reeve (Superman) in 1952, Heather Locklear in 1961 (age 47) and Tate Donovan in 1963 (age 45); actor Will Smith in 1968 (age 40); and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1969 (age 38). On this date in history:In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first known European to see the Pacific Ocean. In 1690, the first American newspaper, called Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic, appeared in Boston. In 1789, the first U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution. Ten were ratified and became known as The Bill of Rights. In 1882, the first major league baseball doubleheader was played between the Providence, R.I., and Worchester, Mass., teams. In 1957, under escort from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, nine black students entered all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice. In 1984, Jordan announced it would restore relations with Egypt, something no Arab country had done since 17 Arab nations broke relations with Cairo over the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty of 1979. In 1991, President Alfredo Christiani of El Salvador and five commanders of the guerrilla forces reached an agreement that was seen as prelude to a cease-fire. In 1992, a judge in Orlando, Fla., granted a 12-year-old boy's precedent-setting petition to divorce his mother. Also in 1992, NASA launched a $511 million probe to Mars in the first U.S. mission to the planet in 17 years. Eleven months later, the probe would fail. In 1996, Israeli police opened fire on Palestinians rioting over the new tunnel entrance beneath the Temple Mount. The fighting ended four days later with about 70 killed and hundreds injured. In 2000, Yugoslav voters rejected incumbent Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in his bid for re-election but he refused to accept the results. In 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives gave the Federal Trade Commission explicit authority to create a national do not call directory to protect against telemarketers and other unwanted telephone calls. In 2004, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said more than 1 million people relocated by the Darfur conflict in Sudan were living in a climate of fear. In 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Hurricane Rita pushed more water over crippled New Orleans-area levees that had unleashed devastating flooding to much of the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina a month earlier but didn't create additional structural damage. In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI met with Muslim leaders at his summer home outside Rome and called for inter-religious dialogue. The pope had been criticized by angry Muslims over a speech he gave in Germany. In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assured the United Nations in a New York address that Iran wouldn't allow arrogant powers to force it to give up its nuclear program. Earlier, he was denied permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center memorial and accused of behaving like a petty and cruel dictator by the president of Columbia University where he also spoke. Also in 2007, Warren Jeffs, head of a splinter Mormon sect that practiced polygamy. was convicted in Utah of being an accomplice to rape in the forced marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin against her will. A thought for the day: Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso said, "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."Today is Friday, Sept. 26, the 270th day of 2008 with 96 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include frontier nurseryman Johnny Appleseed Chapman in 1774; poet T.S. Eliot in 1888; German philosopher Martin Heidegger in 1889; actor George Raft in 1895; Pope Paul VI in 1897; composer George Gershwin in 1898; bandleader Ted Weems in 1901; country singers Marty Robbins in 1925 and Lynn Anderson in 1947 (age 61); actress Mary Beth Hurt and singer Olivia Newton-John, both in 1948 (age 60); actresses Linda Hamilton in 1956 (age 52) and Melissa Sue Anderson in 1962 (age 46); and tennis star Serena Williams in 1981 (age 27). On this date in history:In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia. In 1950, U.N. troops took the South Korean capital of Seoul from North Korean forces. In 1960, the first televised presidential debate aired from a Chicago TV studio. It featured presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. In 1983, the yacht Australia II won the America's Cup from the United States, ending the longest winning streak in sports -- 132 years. In 1984, China and Britain initialed an accord to return Hong Kong to Chinese control when Britain's lease expires in 1997. In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America, under pressure from legitimate filmmakers, adopted the NC-17 rating -- no children under 17 allowed -- to replace the X rating exploited by the porn industry. In 1991, four men and four women entered the huge, airtight greenhouse Biosphere II in Arizona. They remained inside for two years, emerging on this date in 1993. In 1994, the high-profile double murder trial of football legend O.J. Simpson, accused of killing his ex-wife and a friend, began in Los Angeles. He eventually was acquitted. In 1996, the space shuttle Atlantis landed, bringing astronaut Shannon Lucid to Earth. Her six-month tour aboard the Mir space station set a record for a woman in space, as well as a record stay for any U.S. astronaut. In 2005, emergency officials say Hurricane Rita heavily damaged every house in several coastal Louisiana towns. Widespread flooding left Cameron Parish near the Texas border 15 feet under water and Iberia Parish officials said 3,000 houses were flooded. Also in 2005, U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England, photographed in widely distributed pictures with inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted of conspiracy and prisoner abuse. She was sentenced to three years in prison two days later. In 2006, the Bush administration released portions of a U.S. intelligence report that concluded the war in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism. The report said that although U.S. efforts had seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qaida, terrorists are emerging in a global jihadist movement. In 2007, ending a walkout that lasted less than two days, the United Auto Workers union and General Motors reached a deal in which GM agreed to create a $38.5 billion trust to administer health benefits for retirees. A thought for the day: poet T.S. Eliot said, "We know too much and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for religion, and so it our religion."Today is Saturday, Sept, 27, the 271st day of 2008 with 95 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include patriot Samuel Adams in 1722; political cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1840; composers Joseph McCarthy (You Made Me Love You) in 1885 and Vincent Youmans (Tea for Two) in 1898; actress Jayne Meadows in 1920 (age 88); filmmaker Arthur Penn in 1922 (age 86); actors William Conrad in 1920, Sada Thompson in 1929 (age 79) and Wilford Brimley in 1934 (age 74); actor Greg Morris also in 1934; and actor/singer Shaun Cassidy in 1958 (age 50). On this date in history:In 1825, in England, George Stephenson operated the first locomotive to pull a passenger train. In 1935, 13-year-old Judy Garland signed her first contract with MGM. In 1939, after 19 days of heavy air raids and artillery bombardment, Polish defenders of Warsaw surrendered to the Germans. In 1954, The Tonight Show made its television debut with host Steve Allen. In 1964, the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was released after a 10-month investigation, concluding that there was no conspiracy and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, acted alone. In 1987, mudslides in slum areas of Medellin, Colombia, killed up to 500 people. In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush announced the United States would unilaterally eliminate tactical nuclear weapons on land and at sea in Europe and Asia. Also in 1991, the Palestine Liberation Organization legislature voted to support U.S.- and Soviet-sponsored Middle East peace efforts. In 1992, the Inkatha party, rival to Nelson Mandela's ANC, withdrew from talks with the South African government after a meeting between Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk. In 1994, U.S. forces in Haiti took control of the parliament building and began paying Haitians to turn in weapons in order to reduce firepower on the streets. In 1996, rebels seized control of Afghanistan from the previous rebel group that had taken the country from Moscow. The new rebels hanged Afghani leader Najibullah and his brother. In 1998, Gerhard Schroeder led Germany's Social Democratic Party to victory in parliamentary elections, bringing to an end 16 years of power by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Party. And in 1998, St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire set an all-time major-league season home run record when he hit his 70th home run. In 2001, in further steps following the terrorist attacks on the United States, U.S. President George Bush asked governors to assign National Guard troops to help protect commercial airports and said armed sky marshals in plainclothes would soon begin riding some flights. In 2003, U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Putin said they would join forces to oppose nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea. In 2005, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, second in command to the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, was reported killed by Iraqi and U.S. forces in a Baghdad gun battle. Also in 2005, French prosecutors began questioning senior officials with the former Concorde aircraft project over a crash in 2000 that killed 113 people. In 2007, nine people were reported killed and another 100 injured as the Myanmar military junta sought to break up nine days of demonstrations by Buddhist monks and nuns in Yangon over the more than doubling of gas prices. Also in 2007, the U.S. Senate voted to attach a measure that would extend federal hate-crime protection to sexual orientation to the defense authorization bill. A thought for the day: in "The Republic," Greek philosopher Plato wrote, "The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life."Today is Sunday, Sept. 28, the 272nd day of 2008 with 94 to follow.The moon is waning. The morning star is Saturn. The evening stars are Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Frances Willard, founder of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, in 1839; CBS Chairman William Paley in 1901; TV variety show host and columnist Ed Sullivan in 1901; heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling in 1905; cartoonist Al Capp in 1909; actors William Windom in 1923 (age 85) and Marcello Mastroianni in 1924; actress and animal rights advocate Brigitte Bardot in 1934 (age 74); musician Ben E. King in 1938 (age 70); actor Jeffrey Jones in 1946 (age 62); and actresses Janeane Garofalo in 1964 (age 44) and Gwyneth Paltrow in 1972 (age 36). On this date in history:In 490 B.C., the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon. A Greek soldier named Phidippides ran more than 26 miles to tell Athenians of the victory and died after his announcement. His feat provided the model for the modern marathon race. In 1892, Mansfield University was the home team for the first night football game at Smythe Park in Mansfield, Pa. In 1920, in baseball's biggest scandal, a grand jury indicted eight Chicago White Sox players for throwing the 1919 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds. In 1982, the first reports appeared of deaths in the Chicago area from Extra-strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Seven people died and the unsolved case resulted in tamper-proof packaging for consumer products. In 1987, a federal appeals court declared Boston public schools officially desegregated after a 13-year effort. In 1989, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii. In 1992, a Pakistan jetliner carrying 167 people, including three Americans, crashed into a hill southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all aboard. It was Nepal's worst air disaster. In 1993, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton was the administration's lead witness in congressional hearings on the proposed national healthcare program. Also in 1993, as the power struggle in Russia intensified, the Interior Ministry sealed off the parliament building. Opponents to President Boris Yeltsin were holed up inside. In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat signed phase two of their peace agreement in Washington. In 2000, right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon visited the sacred site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al Sharif to Muslims, sparking a deadly round of violence between Israelis and Palestinians that continued to escalate over the next two years. Five months later, Sharon was elected prime minister. Also in 2000, the Drug and Food Administration announced approval of an abortion pill. In 2001, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to require all members to put a stop to financing and training of terrorists within their borders. In 2003, legendary Broadway and film director Elia Kazan died at his home in New York at the age of 94. In 2004, the price of oil topped $50 a barrel for the first time in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In 2005, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, was indicted in Texas for allegedly conspiring to violate a state fundraising law. In 2006, in a move boosting support for the Afghan government, NATO voted to dramatically expand operations in Afghanistan. The focus will be on the east, where Osama bin Laden was believed to be hiding. In 2007, the U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives in defying a veto threat from President George Bush to approve an expansion of the child health insurance program. The bill would spend about $35 billion to expand health insurance to more than four million children. A thought for the day: U.S. writer Gertrude Stein said, "... the creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic." Copyright ? 2008 United Press International |