The Almanac

Today is Friday, June 27, the 178th day of 2003 with 187 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include King Charles XII, Charles the Great, of Sweden in 1682; Irish patriot Charles Stewart Parnell in 1846; poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1872; blind and deaf author Helen Keller in 1880; "Capt. Kangaroo" Bob Keeshan in 1927 (age 76); H. Ross Perot in 1930 (age 72); fashion designer Norma Kamali in 1945 (age 58); and actors Julia Duffy in 1951 (age 52), Isabelle Adjani in 1955 (age 48), Jason Patric in 1966 (age 37), Christian Kane ("Angel") in 1974 (age 29) and Toby Maguire in 1975 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1801, British forces captured Cairo and the French began withdrawing from Egypt in one of the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1829, English scientist James Smithson leave will that eventually funds establishment of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, in a country he never visited.

In 1844, Mormon founder Joseph Smith slain by mob at a jail in Carthage, Ill.

In 1847, the first telegraph wire links were established between New York City and Boston.

In 1859, Louisville, Ky., schoolteacher Mildred Hill wrote a tune for her students and called it "Good Morning To You." Her sister, Patty, wrote the lyrics and later added a verse that began "Happy birthday To You."

In 1893, the "Panic of 1893" began as the value of the U.S. silver dollar fell to less than 60 cents in gold.

In 1950, President Truman ordered U.S. naval and air forces to help repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea.

In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private employers could give special preferences to blacks to eliminate "manifest racial imbalance" in traditionally white-only jobs.

In 1991, Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall announced he was retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first black to sit on the high court.

Also in 1991, South Africa announced it would sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and agree not to develop nuclear weapons.

In 1992, a severe earthquake shook Southern California, jolting residents awake, causing damage and killing one person.

Also in 1992, President's Bush only daughter married the former top aide to the House Democratic leader in a private ceremony at Camp David, Md.

In 1993, the Pentagon recommended closing 33 major military bases, nearly 100 smaller installations and shrinking 45 others.

Also in 1993, U.N.-sponsored talks between exiled Haitian President Aristide and the military leaders who ousted him opened in New York.

In 1994, arguing that presidents were entitled to immunity during their terms, President Clinton's lawyer asked for a delay in the sexual harassment suit filed by former Arkansas state employee Paula Corbin Jones.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an historic mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir. The flight was also the 100th U.S.-piloted space mission.

In 1998, President Clinton held a summit meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing. Afterwards, the two leaders held a joint news conference broadcast on Chinese television.

In 2001, screen legend Jack Lemmon died at 76.

In 2002, The U.S. Supreme Court, acting in a Cleveland case, upheld that city's school vouchers program, in which public money goes to help parents pay tuition to non-public schools.

A thought for the day: Francis Bacon said, "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties."