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The Almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Monday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2003 with 72 to follow.

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

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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; 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; singer/pianist/composer Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton in 1889[ 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 78); psychologist Joyce Brothers in 1928 (age 75); former New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle in 1931; actors William Christopher ("M*A*S*H") in 1932 (age 71) and Jerry Orbach in 1935 (age 68); and rock singer Tom Petty in 1953 (age 50).

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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 1994, Hollywood heavyweight Burt Lancaster died at the age of 80.

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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.

In 2002, showing its displeasure with North Korea for restarting its nuclear program, the United States was reported to be considering cutting off vital fuel oil supplies to that country.


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

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 21, the 294th day of 2003 with 71 to follow.

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

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Those born this date are under the sign of Libra. They include English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1772; Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prize, in 1833; dancer/choreographer Ted Shawn in 1891; conductor Sir Georg Solti in 1912; jazz trumpeter John "Dizzy" Gillespie, in 1917; former pitcher Whitey Ford in 1928 (age 75); author Ursula K. LeGuin in 1929 (age 74); and actress-author Carrie Fisher in 1956 (age 47).


On this date in history:

In 1805, in one of history's greatest naval battles, the British fleet under Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated the combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar off the coast of Spain.

In 1879, after 14 months of experiments, Thomas Edison invented the first practical electric incandescent lamp.

In 1908, The Saturday Evening Post magazine carried an ad for a brand new product: a two-sided phonograph record.

In 1950, Chinese troops occupied Tibet.

In 1959, the brilliant rocket designer Wernher von Braun and his team were transferred from the Army to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to be known simply as NASA.

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In 1987, the Senate rejected Judge Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court by the biggest margin in history, 58-42.

In 1990, gunmen stormed the home of a key supporter of Lebanese Christian military leader Michel Aoun, killing him, his wife and their two sons.

In 1991, Beirut University College professor Jesse Turner, a hostage since January 1987, was released by his captors in Lebanon.

In 1992, former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, whose investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy became the subject of the movie "JFK," died at 71.

Also in 1992, New York protesters upset with Sinead O'Connor for ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live" used a steamroller to crush dozens of the Irish singer's CDs, records and tapes.

In 1994, former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia endorsed his long-time rival, Sen. Charles Robb, who was seeking re-election in a tight race with Oliver North.

Also in 1994, Rosario Ames, wife of confessed spy Aldrich Ames, was sentenced to 63 months in prison for her role in collaborating with her husband.

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In 1996, the Dow Jones Index of 30 major stocks topped the 6,000 mark for the first time.

In 1998, the New York Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the San Diego Padres to win the World Series.

In 2001, in the midst of the anthrax scare, legislative business went on as usual in the House and Senate though Senate office buildings remained closed while the investigation continued into discoveries in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and other areas.


A thought for the day: Italian goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini wrote in his autobiography, "One can pass on responsibility, but not the discretion that goes with it."

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Today is Wednesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2003 with 70 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1811; actresses Sarah Bernhardt in 1844 and Joan Fontaine in 1917 (age 86); English author Doris Lessing in 1919 (age 84); psychologist and LSD advocate Timothy Leary in 1920; artist Robert Rauschenberg in 1925 (age 78); actors Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lloyd, both in 1938 (age 65), Annette Funicello in 1942 (age 61), Catherine Deneuve in 1943 (age 60), and Jeff Goldblum in 1952 (age 51); and champion skater Brian Boitano in 1963 (age 40).

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On this date in history:

In 1797, the first parachute jump was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped from a height of about 6500 feet over a Paris park.

In 1836, Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1938, inventor Charles Carlson produced the first dry, or xerographic, copy, but had trouble attracting investors.

In 1962, President Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles had been deployed in Cuba and ordered a blockade of the island.

In 1966, The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with "Supremes a Go-Go."

In 1978, Pope John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1990, President Bush vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1990, saying it would lead to a quota system.

Also in 1990, a judge in Santa Ana, Calif., ruled that a surrogate mother not genetically linked to a baby she bore for a childless couple had no right to the infant.

In 1991, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir warned that Israel would refuse to negotiate with any Palestinians who claimed alliance to the PLO.

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In 1992, pioneer sportscaster Red Barber died at age 84.

In 2001, anthrax spores were found in a mail opening machine serving the White House. Preliminary tests on 120 workers who sort mail for the executive mansion were negative.

Also in 2001, the Pentagon announced nearly 200 U.S. jets struck Taliban and al Quaida communications facilities, barracks and training camps and disputed Taliban claims that 100 civilians died when a bomb hit a hospital in western Afghanistan.


A thought for the day: of the existence of God, Clarence Darrow said, "I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure."

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Today is Thursday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2003 with 69 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include French chef Nicholas Appert, inventor of the canning process, in 1752; Adlai E. Stevenson, vice president under Grover Cleveland from 1893-1897, in 1835; pioneering college football coach John Heisman in 1869; William Coolidge, inventor of the X-ray tube, in 1873; Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, in 1906; former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson in 1925 (age 78); pro golfer Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriquez in 1934 (age 69); Brazilian soccer player Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) in 1940 (age 63); author Michael Crichton in 1942 (age 61); filmmaker Ang Lee in 1954 (age 49); singers Dwight Yoakum in 1956 (age 47) and "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1959 (age 44); and football players Doug Flutie and Mike Tomczak, both in 1962 (age 41).

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On this date in history:

In 1707, the British Parliament met for the first time.

In 1942, the British Eighth Army launched an offensive at El Alamein in Egypt, a World War II battle that eventually swept the Germans out of North Africa.

In 1945, Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player hired by a major league team, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team.

In 1950, Al Jolson, the most famous singer of his day and star of 1927's "The Jazz Singer," first feature-length "talkie," died at the age of 65.

, In 1972, earthquakes killed more than 10,000 people in Nicaragua.

In 1983, suicide bomb attacks on American and French peacekeeping troops in Beirut killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French soldiers.

In 1989, Hungary formally declared an end to 40 years of communist rule and proclaimed itself a republic, setting the stage for creation of Western-style democracy in the East Bloc state.

In 1990, Iraq released 64 British hostages.

In 1991, the United States announced that all parties invited to the Middle East peace conference had accepted.

In 1993, the Toronto Blue Jays won baseball's World Series for the second year in a row.

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In 1995, the Defense Department announced it was ending a program designed to help minority-owned firms secure government contracts.

In 1996, Bob Dole's campaign manager, Scott Reed, met with Ross Perot and asked him to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Dole. The next day, Perot said no.

In 1998, after nine days of tense negotiations at the Wye Conference Center in Queenstown, Md., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed an agreement to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

Also in 1998, Dr. Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician who performed abortions, was shot to death by a sniper who fired a bullet through a widow of Slepian's home in Amherst, N.Y. He had been the target of anti-abortion protesters for years.

In 2000, Secretary of State Madeline Albright met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and attended a huge spectacle of 100,000 performers honoring her host.

In 2001, U.S.-led forces maintained their intense pressure on the Taliban, pounding positions around the Afghan capitol of Kabul and the militia's southern stronghold of Kandahar for the 17th consecutive day.

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Also in 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney was given the International Republican Institute's 2001 Freedom Award. He promised the war against terrorism being waged in Afghanistan would be "relentless."

In 2002, a group of 20 Chechen gunmen stormed a Moscow theater, taking hostage more than 700 members of the audience, actors, and theater staff, and demanding an end to the war in the separatist republic.

Also in 2002, authorities say the sniper who has terrorized the Washington region for the past three weeks -- killing 10 people and wounding three others -- has demanded $10 million in cash and threatened to begin attacking children of the area if demands are not met.


A thought for the day: The New Testament says, "Charity shall cover a multitude of sins."

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Today is Friday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2003 with 68 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include pioneering Dutch microscope maker Anton Van Leeuwenhoek in 1632; journalist Sarah Josepha Hale, author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," in 1788; attorney Belva Lockwood, the first woman candidate for U.S. president, nominated by the National Equal Rights Party, in 1830; film producer-director Merian Cooper ("King Kong") in 1893; former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, whose year of birth has been given variously as 1936 or 1941 (age 67 or 62); NAACP president Kweisi Mfume in 1948 (age 55); actors David Nelson (Ozzie and Harriet's other son) in 1936 (age 67), F. Murray Abraham in 1940 (age 63) and Kevin Kline in 1947 (age 56); and singer Monica (Arnold) in 1980 (age 23).

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On this date in history:

In 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

In 1861, the first telegram was transmitted across the United States from California Chief Justice Stephen Field to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C.

In 1901, daredevil Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

In 1945, following Soviet ratification, U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes announced the United Nations charter was in effect. Establishment of the U.N. came less than two months after the end of World War II.

In 1984, the FBI arrested 11 alleged chiefs of the Colombo crime family on charges of racketeering in New York City.

In 1989, TV evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $500,000 dollars for fleecing his flock.

In 1990, Rep. Donald Lukens, R-Ohio, resigned over new sex charges.

In 1993, the death of Burundi's President Melchior Ndadaye in a military coup was confirmed.

In 1995, the United Nations marked its 50th anniversary. The celebration was the largest gathering of world leaders in history.

In 2001, Pakistan officials said they needed no help in securing their nation's nuclear weapons despite fears they might fall into the hands of Islamic extremists.

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Also in 2001, an estranged sister-in-law of Osama bin Laden told a U.S. television show that she believed some members of the Saudi royal family supported the suspected terrorist.

In 2002, police arrested two suspects in the three-week series of sniper attacks in the Washington area that killed 10 and wounded three others. John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, were found sleeping in a car at a rest stop outside Frederick, Md.


A thought for the day: Hindu nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi said, "I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed."

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2003 with 67 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British historian Thomas Macaulay in 1800; Austrian composer Johann Strauss in 1825; French composer Georges Bizet in 1838; artist Pablo Picasso in 1881; explorer Richard Byrd in 1888; comedian Minnie Pearl in 1912; actors Tony Franciosa in 1928 (age 75) and Marion Ross in 1936 (age 67); basketball coach Bobby Knight in 1940 (age 63); author Anne Tyler and pop singer Helen Reddy, both in 1941 (age 62); and violinist Midori in 1971 (age 32).

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On this date in history:

In 1825, the Erie Canal, America's first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.

In 1854, in what's known to history as the Charge of the Light Brigade, 670 British cavalrymen fighting in the Crimean War attacked a heavily fortified Russian position and were wiped out.

In 1881, Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, was born in Malaga, Spain.

In 1929, during the Teapot Dome scandal, Albert B. Fall, who served as interior secretary in President Warren G. Harding's cabinet, was found guilty of accepting a bribe while in office, first individual convicted of a crime committed while a presidential cabinet member.

In 1971, the United Nations admitted China as a member, ousting the Nationalist Chinese government of Taiwan.

In 1983, American troops, supported by six Caribbean nations, invaded the tiny, leftist-ruled island of Grenada. 19 Americans died in the fighting.

In 1986, the International Red Cross ousted South African delegates from a Geneva meeting because of Pretoria's policy of apartheid. It was the first such ejection in the organization's 123 years.

In 1990, employees struck the New York Daily News, the nation's largest general-circulation daily newspaper.

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In 1993, Canadian voters ousted the Progressive Conservative party of Prime Minister Kim Campbell and gave the Liberal Party, led by Jean Chretien of Quebec, a firm majority in Parliament.

In 1994, Susan Smith reported to police in Union, S.C., that her two young boys had been taken in a carjacking. Nine days later, she confessed she'd rolled the car into a lake, drowning the children.

In 1995, seven high school students were killed when their school bus was hit by a commuter train in the Chicago suburb of Fox River Grove, Ill.

In 2000, AT&T announced it would break itself into four separate businesses in a bid to renew investor support.

In 2001, the Senate, by a 90-1 vote, approved a final package of anti-terror reforms designed to help law enforcement monitor, observe and detain suspected terrorists. The bill was sent to the president who was expected to quickly sign it.

Also in 2001, a Massachusetts soccer dad was charged with assaulting an opposing player during a boys' high school soccer game.

In 2002, Liberal Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and seven others were killed in the crash of a small plane near the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, about 180 miles northeast of Minneapolis.

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Also in 2002, Maryland authorities, who will be the first to prosecute Washington area sniper suspects John Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, say they will seek the death penalty.


A thought for the day: Pablo Picasso said, "I am only an entertainer who has understood his time."

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Today is Sunday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2003 with 66 to follow.

Daylight saving time ends.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in 1879; gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in 1911; bandleader Charlie Barnett in 1913; French President Francois Mitterrand in 1916; Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, in 1919; actor Bob Hoskins in 1942 (age 61); author Pat Conroy in 1945 (age 58); TV personality Pat Sajak and filmmaker Ivan Reitman, both in 1946 (age 57); Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, in 1947 (age 56); and actors Jaclyn Smith in 1948 (age 55) and Cary Elwes and Dylan McDermott, both in 1962 (age 41); and singer Natalie Merchant in 1963 (age 39).

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On this date in history:

In 1906, workers in St. Petersburg set up the first Russian "soviet," or council.

In 1920, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, Terence McSwiney, died after a two-and-a-half-month hunger strike in a British prison cell, demanding independence for Ireland.

In 1942, Japanese warships sank the aircraft carrier USS Hornet off the Solomon Islands.

In 1944, after four days of furious fighting, the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest air-naval battle in history, ended with a decisive American victory over the Japanese.

In 1965, The Beatles were presented the prestigious Member of the Order of the British Empire medals by Queen Elizabeth. John Lennon stirred up controversy by commenting to a reporter, "We're more popular than Jesus Christ right now."

In 1979, South Korean President Park Chung Hee was assassinated by the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1984, Dr. Leonard L. Bailey performed the first baboon-to-human heart transplant, replacing a 14-day-old infant girl's defective heart with a healthy, walnut-sized heart of a young baboon at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.

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In 1990, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $5,000 for his conviction on misdemeanor drug charges.

In 1992, beseiged GM Chairman Robert Stempel resigned as head of the No. 1 U.S. automaker.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty at a desert site along the Israeli-Jordanian border.

In 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin was hospitalized with heart trouble for the second time in less than four months.

Also in 1995, Islamic Jihad leader Fathi ash-Shiqaqi was assassinated in Malta.

In 1996, the New York Yankees won the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games.

In 1998, just one day before threatened NATO air strikes were to begin, Serbian soldiers and police began what was said to be a significant pullback from positions in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, where they were massacring ethnic Albanians.

Also in 1998, the presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a peace treaty, ending a decades-long border dispute between the two countries.

In 2001, six weeks after the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil, President Bush signed into law a tough new measure giving law enforcement agencies expanded authority in their battle against terrorism.

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In 2002, Moscow's four-day hostage crisis came to a bloody end when Russian soldiers stormed a theatre where Chechen rebels had held 700 persons for ransom. Ninety hostages and 50 rebels were killed.


A thought for the day: English writer William Hazlitt said, "Men of genius do not excel in any profession because their labour in it, but they labour in it because they excel."

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