The Almanac

Today is Sunday, Jan. 6, the sixth day of 2002 with 359 to follow.

The moon is waning, moving toward its new phase.

The morning star is Jupiter.

The evening stars are Mars and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Joan of Arc in 1412; archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the ruins of ancient Troy, in 1822; poet Carl Sandburg in 1878; silent movie cowboy star Tom Mix in 1880; former Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn in 1882; actress Loretta Young in 1913 (age 89); actor Danny Thomas in 1914; pollster Louis Harris in 1921 (age 81); musician Earl Scruggs in 1924 (age 78); auto executive John DeLorean in 1925 (age 77); author E.L. Doctorow in 1931 (age 71); actress Bonnie Franklin in 1944 (age 58); actor Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") in 1955 (age 47); filmmaker John Singleton in 1968 (age 34); and actor Danny Pintauro ("Who's the Boss?") in 1977 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1759, George Washington married widow Martha Dandridge Custis.

In 1838, in Morristown, N.J., Samuel F.B. Morse and his partner, Alfred Vail, publicly demonstrated their new invention, the telegraph, for the first time.

In 1942, a Pan American Airways plane arrived in New York to complete the first around-the-world flight by a commercial airliner.

In 1950, Britain formally recognized the communist government of China.

In 1984, the first test-tube quadruplets, all boys, were born in Melbourne, Australia.

Also in 1984, the 100th Congress convened with Democrats controlling the Senate, and thus both houses, for the first time under the Reagan administration.

In 1993, dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev died at age 54 of cardiac complications; his doctor later confirmed it was AIDS.

Also in 1993, jazz trumpeteer Dizzy Gillespie died of cancer at age 75.

And in 1993, it was announced that Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito would marry a 29-year-old Foreign Ministry official, a commoner, in June.

In 1994, U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right knee by a man who then fled. The attack, which forced Kerrigan to withdraw from the U.S. Figure Skating Championship, was traced to four men with links to her leading rival, Tonya Harding.

In 1998, some 300 people were reported to have been massacred in the past several days in Algeria's bloody civil war.

In 1999, the first session of the 106th Congress opened with the election of Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as the new Speaker of the House.

Also in 1999, an agreement ended the six-month player lockout by owners of National Basketball Association teams. The labor dispute had threatened to wipe out the entire 1998-99 season.

A thought for the day: "Problems are only opportunities in work clothes." Henry Kaiser said that.