The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2004 with 345 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include soldier and Vermont folk hero Ethan Allen in 1738; explorer and historian John Fremont in 1813; Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in 1824; firearms designer John Browning in 1855; Roger Nash Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, in 1884; fashion designer Christian Dior in 1905; actors Paul Scofield in 1922 (age 82) and Telly Savalas in 1924; comedian Benny Hill in 1925; famed DJ Robert "Wolfman Jack" Smith in 1938; golfer Jack Nicklaus in 1940 (age 64); opera star Placido Domingo in 1941 (age 63); singers Mac Davis in 1942 (age 62) and Billy Ocean in 1950 (age 54); and actors Jill Eikenberry in 1947 (age 57), Robby Benson in 1955 (age 49) and Geena Davis in 1957 (age 47).

On this date in history:

In 1792, French King Louis XVI was executed in Paris.

In 1861, Mississippi Sen. Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate, 12 days before Mississippi seceded from the Union.

In 1924, Vladimir Lenin, architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54.

In 1954, the world's first atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn.

In 1976, the supersonic Concorde airplane was put into service by Britain and France.

In 1977, President Carter pardoned American Vietnam War-era draft evaders and ordered a case-by-case study of deserters.

In 1990, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry said he would seek help but did not publicly concede he had used illegal drugs. He left the next day for a treatment program in Florida.

In 1991, Iraq announced that it would use hostages as human shields against allied warplanes.

In 1993, it was announced that Hillary Clinton would work out of a White House office near the Oval Office, an unprecedented move in first lady history.

In 1994, Lorena Bobbitt was found innocent by reason of insanity in the June 1993 attack on her husband, John. She had cut off his penis while he slept. The organ was surgically reattached.

In 1997, the full House voted 395-28 to reprimand Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., for violating House rules and misleading congressional investigators looking into his possible misuse of tax-exempt donations for political purposes.

Also in 1997, in the face of continuing reports of legally dubious fund-raising practices, the Democratic National Committee announced it would no longer take donations from foreign nationals or from U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

In 1998, allegations of President Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky first became public when newspapers reported the story.

Also in 1998, Pope John Paul II arrived in Havana for his first-ever visit to Cuba.

In 1999, the brother of former Mexican Pres. Carlos Salinas de Gortari was convicted of masterminding the 1994 shooting death of a ruling party official.

In 2000, a military junta seized power in Ecuador. The next day, following expressions of international concern, the junta leaders turned the government over to the country's vice president.

In 2003, Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges stemming from the Washington area sniper attacks.

Also in 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau says Hispanics have moved past African-Americans as the largest minority group in the United States.

A thought for the day: Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."