The almanac

Today is Friday, June 7, the 158th day of 2002 with 207 to follow.

The moon is waning, moving toward its new phase.

There are no morning stars.

The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include British fashion-plate George "Beau" Brummel in 1778; French post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin in 1848; actress Jessica Tandy in 1909; Gwendolyn Brooks, the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, in 1917; singer Tom Jones in 1940 (age 62); talk-show host Jenny Jones in 1946 (age 56); actor Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List") in 1952 (age 50); singer/songwriter Prince (formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) in 1958 (age 44); tennis star Anna Kournikova in 1981 (age 21).

On this date in history:

In 1864, Republican delegates meeting in Baltimore re-nominated Abraham Lincoln as president. His running mate was Andrew Johnson.

In 1942, Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. U.S. forces retook the islands one year later.

In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law banning contraceptives.

In 1975, the first videocassette recorder went on sale to the public.

In 1982, Israeli jets bombed central Beirut while Israeli ground forces captured Beaufort Castle and surrounded the Lebanese city of Sidon.

In 1983, one day after Nicaragua expelled three U.S. diplomats, the Reagan administration ordered six Nicaraguan consulates closed and expelled six Nicaraguan diplomats.

In 1990, South African President de Klerk lifted a four-year-old nationwide state of emergency in all but the strife-torn Indian Ocean province of Natal.

In 1991, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir rejected U.S. calls for compromise to convene a Middle East peace conference.

In 1992, a British newspaper reported that Princess Diana, in despair over her marriage to Prince Charles, made five attempts at suicide and had suffered from depression-linked illnesses.

In 1993, the ninth International Conference on AIDS opened in Berlin.

In 1995, using his veto power for the first time, President Clinton vetoed a bill passed by Congress.

In 1996, Max Factor, who pioneered smudge-proof lipstick, died.

In 1997, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was the team's first hockey title in 42 years.

In 2000, the federal judge hearing the Microsoft anti-trust suit ordered the break-up of the software giant.

A thought for the day: Goethe said, "Talent develops in quiet; character in the maelstrom of the world."