The Almanac

Today is Friday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2002 with 53 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The evening stars are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British astronomer Edmond Halley in 1656; author Margaret Mitchell ("Gone With the Wind") in 1900; actresses Katharine Hepburn in 1909 (age 93) and June Havoc in 1916 (age 86); heart transplant pioneer Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1922; journalist Morley Safer ("60 Minutes") in 1931 (age 71); singers Patti Page in 1927 (age 75), Minnie Riperton in 1947 and Bonnie Raitt in 1949 (age 53); TV personality Mary Hart in 1951 (age 51); actress Afre Woodard in 1953 (age 49); singer Ricki Lee Jones in 1954 (age 48); and actresses Courtney Thorne-Smith in 1967 (age 35) and Parker Posey in 1968 (age 34).

On this date in history:

In 1793, the Louvre in Paris, now containing one of the world's richest art collections, became a public museum after two centuries as a royal palace.

In 1837, Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts became the first American college founded exclusively for women.

In 1864, as the Civil War raged, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president.

In 1889, Montana was admitted to the Union as the 41st state.

In 1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays.

In 1942, more than 400,000 Allied soldiers invaded North Africa.

In 1982, a smoky fire set by a prisoner in a Biloxi, Miss., jail killed 28 people.

In 1985, a judge overturned Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's conviction for a 1966 triple murder in a Patterson, N.J., bar, freeing the former boxer after 19 years in prison.

In 1988, Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush was elected the 41st president of the United States.

In 1989, doctors said Massachusetts first lady Kitty Dukakis, an admitted alcoholic, had been hospitalized after drinking rubbing alcohol.

In 1990, William Bennett resigned as President Bush's national drug policy adviser.

In 1991, the European Community imposed an economic embargo on Yugoslavia in an effort to halt the civil war.

In 1992, a Paso Robles, Calif., man, angry about being evicted from his home, went on a shooting spree, killing six people before turning the gun on himself.

In 1993, toymaker Hasbro unveiled a new collection of six Elvis Presley limited edition commemorative dolls.

Also in 1993, parliamentary elections were held in Jordan.

In 1994, in a stunning upset, Republican candidates swept the general election, regaining control of both chambers of Congress. It marked the first time in 40 years the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate.

Also in 1994, doctors in Los Angeles said rocker David Crosby had been placed on a national waiting list for a new liver.

In 1995, retired Army General Colin Powell declared he would not seek the presidency.

In 1997, Evander Holyfield scored an eighth-round TKO over Michael Moorer in Las Vegas, retaining his own WBF heavyweight title and adding Moorer's IBF belt.

In 2001, a top aide said President Bush had "no plans" to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the U.N. General Assembly in New York because in the American view Arafat has not done enough to stop the violence in Israel and the West Bank.

A thought for the day: author George Sand wrote, "We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire."