The Almanac

Today is Thursday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2001 with 53 to follow.

The moon is in its last quarter.

The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.

The evening stars are Mercury and Mars.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British astronomer Edmond Halley in 1656; author Margaret Mitchell ("Gone With the Wind") in 1900; actresses Katharine Hepburn in 1909 (age 92) and June Havoc in 1916 (age 85); heart transplant pioneer Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1922; journalist Morley Safer ("60 Minutes") in 1931 (age 70); singers Patti Page in 1927 (age 74), Minnie Riperton in 1947 and Bonnie Raitt in 1949 (age 52); TV personality Mary Hart in 1951 (age 50); actress Afre Woodard in 1953 (age 48); singer Ricki Lee Jones in 1954 (age 47); and actresses Courtney Thorne-Smith in 1967 (age 34) and Parker Posey in 1968 (age 33).

On this date in history:

In 1837, Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts became the first American college founded exclusively for women.

In 1864, as the Civil War raged, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president.

In 1889, Montana was admitted to the Union as the 41st state.

In 1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays.

In 1942, more than 400,000 Allied soldiers invaded North Africa.

In 1982, a smoky fire set by a prisoner in a Biloxi, Miss., jail killed 28 people.

In 1985, a judge overturned Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's conviction for a 1966 triple murder in a Patterson, N.J., bar, freeing the former boxer after 19 years in prison.

In 1988, Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush was elected the 41st president of the United States.

In 1989, doctors said Massachusetts first lady Kitty Dukakis, an admitted alcoholic, had been hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol.

In 1990, William Bennett resigned as President Bush's national drug policy adviser.

In 1991, the European Community imposed an economic embargo on Yugoslavia in an effort to halt the civil war.

In 1992, a Paso Robles, Calif., man, angry about being evicted from his home, went on a shooting spree, killing six people before turning the gun on himself.

In 1993, toymaker Hasbro unveiled a new collection of six Elvis Presley limited edition commemorative dolls.

Also in 1993, parliamentary elections were held in Jordan.

In 1994, in a stunning upset, Republican candidates swept the general election, regaining control of both chambers of Congress. It marked the first time in 40 years the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate.

Also in 1994, doctors in Los Angeles said rocker David Crosby had been placed on a national waiting list for a new liver.

In 1995, retired army general Colin Powell declared he would not seek the presidency.

In 1997, Evander Holyfield scored an eighth-round TKO over Michael Moorer in Las Vegas, retaining his own WBF heavyweight title and adding Moorer's IBF belt.

A thought for the day: author George Sand wrote, "We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire."