The Almanac

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 4, the 308th day of 2003 with 57 to follow.

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 British King William III, known as William of Orange, in 1650; humorist Will Rogers in 1879; reporter Walter Cronkite in 1916 (age 87); actors Art Carney in 1918 (age 85), Martin Balsam in 1919 and Loretta Swit in 1937 (age 66); Laura Bush" class="tpstyle">First Lady Laura Bush and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1946 (57); actors Markie Post in 1950 (age 53), Ralph Macchio ("The Karate Kid") in 1962 (age 41), and Matthew McConaughey in 1969 (age 34); singer/actor/songwriter Sean "Puffy" Combs in 1971 (age 32).

On this date in history:

In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of ancient Egypt's child-king, Tutankhamen.

In 1952, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, ending 20 years of Democratic administrations.

In 1956, Soviet forces entered Budapest to crush the anti-communist revolt in Hungary.

In 1979, Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking some 90 people hostage, 63 of them Americans.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected 40th president in a landslide victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter.

In 1986, Democrats regained control of the U.S. Senate, 55-45.

In 1990, singer/actress Mary Martin died at age 76.

In 1991, former First Lady Imelda Marcos returned to Philippines, ending more than five years of exile in United States.

In 1993, Canadian Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien was sworn in as prime minister.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to withdraw the remaining 17,000 U.N. troops from Somalia by mid-March 1995.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, 73, was assassinated by a Jewish extremist following a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

In 1997, Republicans swept the off-year elections.

In 2001, intense bombing by U.S.-led forces pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on a tour of the region, told reporters in Uzbehistan that strikes on Taliban targets were showing "measurable progress."

And in 2001 sports, the underdog Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees, 3-2, in the deciding seventh game of the World Series to win the four-year-old expansion team's first championship and spoil the Yankees' bid for four straight.

In 2002, the State Department warned Americans in the Middle East to be on guard for future terrorist attacks.

Also in 2002, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston made his most candid apology for assigning sexually abusive priests to parishes where they continued to have access to children. For the first time, Law acknowledged had he acted differently, some children might not have been sexually abused by priests.

And, in 2002, Several thousand Iranians, mostly students, rallied outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran and in other cities across the country to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the diplomatic compound 23 years ago.

A thought for the day: humorist Will Rogers said, "My forefathers didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat."