The Almanac

Today is Thursday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2004 with 337 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Swedish scientist and philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg in 1688; American colonial political philosopher Thomas Paine in 1737; William McKinley, 25th president of the United States, in 1843; Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov in 1860; comic screen actor W.C. Fields in 1880; dramatist Paddy Chayevsky in 1923; actors Victor Mature in 1916, John Forsythe in 1918 (age 65), Katharine Ross in 1943 (age 61), Tom Selleck in 1945 (age 59) and Ann Jillian in 1951 (age 53); talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 1954 (age 50); Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis in 1960 (age 44); and actors Nick Turturro in 1962 (age 42), Heather Graham in 1970 (age 34) and Sara Gilbert in 1975 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1820, 10 years after mental illness forced him to retire from public life, King George III, the British king who lost the American colonies, died at the age of 82.

In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union as a free or non-slavery state at a time when Southern states were seceding from the Union.

In 1900, eight baseball teams were organized as the American League. They were Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Minneapolis, Minn.

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping, deputy premier of China, and President Carter signed historic new accords that reversed decades of U.S. opposition to the People's Republic of China.

In 1984, President Reagan formally announced that he would seek a second term as president, with George Bush as his running mate.

In 1988, amid broad efforts toward peace in Central America, Pope John Paul II gave Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega a wary Vatican reception.

In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union announced they would agree to a ceasefire in the Gulf War if Iraq made an "unequivocal commitment to withdraw from Kuwait."

Also in 1991, in South Africa, the Africa National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party agreed to end their rivalry.

In 1993, President Clinton directed the military to stop asking recruits about their sexual orientation as a compromise first step in his plan to lift the ban on homosexuals in the armed services.

In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, in Super Bowl XXIX to become the first team to win five Super Bowls.

In 1996, France announced that it would stop open air nuclear testing.

In 1998, a security guard was killed and a nurse seriously injured when a bomb exploded outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala.

In 2000, delegates from more than 130 nations meeting in Montreal adopted the first global treaty regulating trade in genetically modified food products.

In 2002, President George W. Bush warned in his State of the Union address that the war on terrorism was just beginning with thousands of potential terrorists "spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs."

In 2003, the Congressional Budget Office said the year's federal deficit would soar to $199 billion.

A thought for the day: there's a Chinese proverb that says, "Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."