The Almanac

Today is Sunday, June 30, the 181st day of 2002 with 184 to follow.

The moon is waning, moving toward its last quarter.

The morning stars are Mercury, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English socialist leader Harold Laski in 1893; film director Howard Hawks in 1896; actress Susan Hayward in 1917, drummer Buddy Rich in 1917, singer Lena Horne in 1917 (age 85), 1917; actress Nancy Dussault in 1936 (age 66); former Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., in 1940 (age 62); singer Florence Ballard of The Supremes in 1943; actors William Atherton in 1947 (age 55) and David Alan Grier in 1955 (age 47); and boxer Mike Tyson in 1966 (age 36).

On this date in history:In 1859, Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, known professionally as the Great Blondin, became the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tight rope.

In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first woman to graduate from an accredited law school in the United States: Union College of Law in Chicago.

In 1908, a spectacular explosion occurred over central Siberia, probably caused by a meteorite. The fireball reportedly could be seen hundreds of miles away.

In 1923, jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet made his first recording. It included "Wild Cat Blues": and "Kansas City Blues."

In 1934, Hitler ordered a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he feared might become political enemies some day.

In 1936, Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel "Gone With the Wind" was published.

In 1950, American troops were moved from Japan to help defend South Korea against the invading North Koreans.

In 1982, the extended deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment expired, three states short of the 38 needed for passage.

In 1971, Three Soviet Cosmonauts, crew members of the world's first space station, were killed when their spacecraft depressurized during re-entry.

In 1986, Hugh Hefner, calling his Playboy Bunny a "symbol of the past," closed Playboy Clubs in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In 1992, Fidel Ramos was inaugurated as the eighth Philippine president in the first peaceful transfer of power in a generation.

Also in 1992, toxic gas from a derailed tank car forced the evacuation of 80,000 people in Superior, Wis.

In 1994, the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her 1994 national championship title.

In 1997, Mike Tyson apologized publicly for biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a heavyweight championship boxing match in Las Vegas two days earlier, saying he'd become angered after Holyfield head-butted him.

In 1998, a casualty of the Vietnam War buried at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington, Va., was identified as Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie of St. Louis.

In 1999, for the first time since Nov. 1998, the Federal Reserve Board announced an increase in the prime rate -- the rate banks charge each other on overnight loans - from 4.75 to 5 percent.

Also in 1999, Clinton crony Webster Hubbell, a former associate U.S. attorney general, pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the Whitewater land deal scandal.

In 2000, the Clinton Administration said Iraq had restarted its missile program and had flight-tested a short-range ballistic missile.

Also in 2000, the Presbyterian Church ordered its ministers not to conduct same-sex unions.

A thought for the day: Bertrand Russell argued that "Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."