The Almanac

Today is Sunday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2002 with 72 to follow.

The moon is waxing, moving toward its first quarter.

The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The evening stars are Venus, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include English astronomer and architect Sir Christopher Wren in 1632; French poet Arthur Rimbaud in 1854; Robert Mann" class="tpstyle">James Robert Mann, Illinois congressman and author of the "White Slave Traffic Act," also known as the "Mann Act," in 1856; educator John Dewey in 1859; composer Charles Ives in 1874; actor Bela Lugosi in 1882; mystery writer Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay) in 1905; TV personality Arlene Francis in 1908; country singer Grandpa (Louis Marshall) Jones in1913; actor Herschel Bernardi in 1922; newspaper columnist Art Buchwald in 1925 (age 77); psychologist Joyce Brothers in 1928 (age 74); former New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle in 1931; actors William Christopher ("M*A*S*H") in 1932 (age 70) and Jerry Orbach ("Law and Order") in 1935 (age 67); and rock singer Tom Petty in 1953 (age 49).

On this date in history:

In 1818, the United States and Britain agreed to establish the 49th parallel as the official boundary between the United States and Canada.

In 1918, Germany accepted U.S. President Wilson's terms to end World War I.

In 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur kept his promise to return to the Philippines Islands when he landed with American forces during World War II.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened public hearings into communist influence in Hollywood.

In 1973, President Nixon fired special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.

In 1982, the world's worst soccer disaster occurred in Moscow when 340 sports fans were crushed to death in an open staircase during a game between Soviet and Dutch players.

In 1990, the rap group 2 Live Crew was acquitted in Miami of obscenity charges arising from a performance of selections from the album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be."

In 1992, one of Europe's leading environmentalists, Germany's Greens Party founder Petra Kelly, was found shot to death by her companion, Gert Bastian, who then committed suicide.

In 1996, the FBI notified Richard Jewell's attorney that Jewell was no longer a suspect in the Olympic bombing in Atlanta.

In 2000, a former U.S. Army sergeant pleaded guilty to participating in a terrorist plot against Americans. His testimony directly linked Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden to the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2001, anthrax scares continued across the world as reports of letters with white powder possibly containing anthrax -- nearly all false alarms so far -- spread from Japan to Pakistan, Lebanon, Kenya and France. In Washington, where anthrax had been found, Congress said it would resume work on Monday.

A thought for the day: American Red Cross founder Clara Barton said, "The surest test of discipline is its absence."