The Almanac

Today is Saturday, Dec. 1, the 335th day of 2001 with 30 to follow.

The moon is waning, moving toward its last quarter.

The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.

The evening star is Mars.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include detective novelist Rex Stout in 1886; former United Mine Workers president W.A. "Tony" Boyle in 1904; actress Mary Martin in 1913; comedian-filmmaker Woody Allen and soul singer Lou Rawls, both in 1935 (age 66); pro golfer Lee Trevino in 1939 (age 62); comedian Richard Pryor in 1940 (age 61); singer/actress Bette Midler in 1945 (age 56); actor Treat Williams in 1952 (age 49); and model Carol Alt in 1960 (age 41)

On this date in history:

In 1891, the game of basketball was invented when James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., put peach baskets at the opposite ends of the gym and gave students soccer balls to toss into them.

In 1903, the world's first drive-in gasoline station opened for business in Pittsburgh.

In 1917, Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town near Omaha, Ne.

In 1943, ending a "Big Three" meeting in Tehran, President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian Premier Josef Stalin pledged a concerted effort to defeat Nazi Germany.

In 1953, the first Playboy magazine was published.

In 1955, Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested in Montgomery, Ala., for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus. The event has been called the birth of the modern civil rights movement.

In 1989, Soviet President Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II met in the Vatican City. Afterwards, they announced an agreement to establish diplomatic ties and Gorbachev renounced more than 70 years of oppression of religion in the USSR.

In 1990, Iraq agreed to President Bush's call for diplomatic missions to seek a solution to the gulf crisis, but insisted the Arab-Israeli dispute be a part of any bargain.

In 1991, voters in Soviet republic of Ukraine overwhelmingly voted for independence.

In 1992, "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in a New York prison for shooting the wife of her alleged lover, Joey Buttafuoco.

Also in 1992, the Senate Ethics Committee started an investigation into allegations Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., sexually harassed women who worked for him.

In 1996, an oil tanker sunk by the Japanese in 1941 was located off the coast of California, with its cargo intact.

In 1997, it was announced that Walt Disney Co. would donate $25 million to Los Angeles for the construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

A thought for the day: it was Ezra Pound who said, "Literature is news that stays news."