The Almanac

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Today is Wednesday, Feb. 4, the 35th day of 2004 with 331 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Polish-born American patriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1746; physician and educator Mark Hopkins in 1802; French cubist painter Fernand Leger in 1881; aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1902; civil rights activist Rosa Lee Parks in 1913 (age 90); actress Ida Lupino in 1918; feminist Betty Friedan in 1921 (age 83); actor John Schuck in 1940 (age 64); comedian David Brenner in 1945 (age 59); former Vice President Dan Quayle in 1947 (age 57); rock musician Alice Cooper in 1948 (age 56); actresses Pamela Franklin in 1950 (age 54) and Lisa Eichhorn in 1952 (age 52); country singer Clint Black in 1962 (age 42); and actress Gabrielle Anwar in 1971 (age 33).

On this date in history:

In 1789, George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, was unanimously elected the first president of the United States by all 69 presidential electors who cast their votes. John Adams of Massachusetts, who received 34 votes, was elected vice president.

In 1861, at a convention in Montgomery, Ala., six states -- Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina -- elected Jefferson Davis president of the Confederacy.

Also in 1861, the 25-year period of conflict known as the Apache War began at Apache Pass, Ariz., with the arrest of Apache Chief Cochise for raiding a ranch. Cochise escaped his U.S. Army captors and declared war.

In 1938, Adolf Hitler seized control of the German army and put Nazi officers in key posts as part of a plan that led to World War II.

In 1974, urban guerrillas abducted Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, from her apartment in Berkeley, Calif.

In 1976, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale killed nearly 23,000 people in Guatemala and Honduras.

In 1991, Iran offers to mediate an end to the Persian Gulf War.

In 1992, Congress passed a jobless benefits extension bill.

In 1993, Congress approved legislation giving employees unpaid leave in the event of a birth or a medical emergency in their family. President Clinton signed it into law the next day.

Also in 1993, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control expanded its investigation into contaminated hamburger meat that sickened hundreds of people in four Western states.

In 1997, a jury in Santa Monica, Calif., found O.J. Simpson liable in the killings of his former wife and her friend, and was ordered to pay a total of $33.5 millions to both families.

In 1999, an unarmed African immigrant was shot to death by four New York City officers searching for a rape suspect. The four officers later were charged with second-degree murder.

In 2002, President Bush submitted a $2.13 trillion budget for the 2003 fiscal year to Congress, including a 14 percent or $48 billion increase in defense spending.

In 2003, President George W. Bush led the nation in mourning the seven astronauts lost when the space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry on Feb. 1.

A thought for the day: Ralph Waldo Emerson advised, "Go often to the house of a friend, for weeds choke the unused path."