The Almanac

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Today is Thursday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2003 with 202 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include John Augustus Roebling, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1806; President George Bush (the elder) in 1924 (age 79); singer Vic Damone in 1928 (age 75); Anne Frank, whose diary told of hiding from the Nazis in occupied Holland, in 1929; author Rona Jaffe in 1932 (age 71); actor/singer Jim Nabors in 1933 (age 70); jazz musician Chick Corea in 1941 (age 62); sportscaster Marvin "Marv" Albert in 1943 (age 60); actor Timothy Busfield in 1957 (age 46); and actress Sherry Stringfield ("E.R.") in 1967 (age 36).

On this date in history:

In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.

In 1963, a sniper killed civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Jackson, Miss.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not outlaw inter-racial marriages.

In 1971, Tricia Nixon, daughter of President Nixon, married Edward Finch Cox in the first wedding ever held in the Rose Garden of the White House.

In 1979, Bryan Allen, 26, pedaled the 70-pound Gossamer Albatross 22 miles across the English Channel for the first human-powered flight across that body of water.

In 1982, an estimated 700,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park to call for world nuclear disarmament.

In 1986, the South African government, faced with rising black unrest, declared a nationwide state of emergency.

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that white workers who claim to be treated unfairly as a result of affirmative action programs can sue for remedies under civil rights legislation.

In 1990, the Russian republic's legislature, under Boris Yeltsin, passed a radical declaration of sovereignty, proclaiming Russia's laws take precedence over those of the central Soviet government in the republic's territory.

In 1991, the Russian republic held its first-ever direct presidential elections. Boris Yeltsin won. The event is celebrated these days in Russia as a national holiday known as Independence Day.

In 1992, amid extremely tight security and criticism of his administration's stand on environmental issues, President Bush addressed the Earth Summit. He urged rich nations to meet by year's end to outline specific action on a climate treaty.

In 1993, U.S. helicopters and gunships destroyed four of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid's arms depots, one week after his forces allegedly killed 23 Pakistani members of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in a series of firefights.

In 1994, special Whitewater counsel Robert Fiske took sworn depositions from President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was believed to be the first time a sitting president responded directly to questions in a legal case relating to his official conduct.

In 1999, Texas Gov. George W. Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

In 2000, 50 years after the Korean War began, the leaders of North and South Korea meton Pyongyang for the first-ever series of talks.

On this date in 2002, more than one dozen people who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests met with Catholic Church leaders from across the United States to describe their experiences and demand support for a zero tolerance plan for abusers.

In 2002 sports, the Los Angeles Lakers won their third consecutive NBA championship, sweeping the New Jersey Nets in four straight games.

A thought for the day: T.S. Eliot said, "In my beginning is my end."