The Almanac

Today is Friday, July 5, the 186th day of 2002 with 179 to follow.

The moon is waning in its last quarter.

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

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include David Farragut, the first U.S. Navy admiral, in 1801; showman P.T. Barnum in 1810; British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1853; Dwight Davis, founder of the Davis Cup tennis tournament, in 1879; French writer and film director Jean Cocteau in 1889; politician and diplomat Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in 1902; actor Milburn Stone in 1904; football coach John McKay in 1923 (age 79); actor Warren Oates in 1928 (age 74); actress Katherine Helmond in 1934 (age 68); Robbie Robertson, composer, musician, member of The Band, in 1944 (age 58); Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1948 (age 54); and rock singer Huey Lewis in 1951 (age 51).

1801 - David Farragut (Civil War Union Navy Admiral: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.")

On this date in history:

In 1865, William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.

In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.

In 1945, Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced the liberation of the Philippines as World War II approached its end.

In 1946, French designer Louis Reard introduced the bikini swim suit.

In 1982, the Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma was declared insolvent, touching off a bank crisis that affected much of the United States.

In 1991, BCCI, with $20 billion in assets, was seized by regulators in the United States, Cayman Islands, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland.

In 1994, the United States stopped accepting Haitian refugees and asked that other countries provide them with "safe havens."

Also in 1994, Yasser Arafat took the oath as head of the new Palestinian National Authority. The swearing-in ceremony took place in Jericho on the West Bank.

In 1997, Martina Hingis, 16, of Switzerland became the youngest in 100 years to win the women's singles tennis championship at Wimbledon.

In 2000, President Clinton announced that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had agreed to meet at Camp David to discuss peace.

A thought for the day: Emily Dickinson wrote, "There is no Frigate like a Book to take us Lands away."