The Almanac

Today is Monday, Aug. 16, the 229th day of 2004 with 137 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include the French physicist Gabriel Lippman, inventor of color photography, in 1845;Amos Alonzo Stagg, basketball, football hall of fame coach in 1862; British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, in 1881; labor leader George Meany in 1894; former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1913; actors Fess Parker in 1925 (age 79), Ann Blyth in 1928 (age 76) and Robert Culp in 1930 (age 74); football player and sports commentator Frank Gifford, also in 1930 (age 74), TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford, in 1953 (age 51); singer Eydie Gorme in 1932 (age 72); actresses Julie Newmar in 1935 (age 69) and Lesley Anne Warren in 1946 (age 58); actor Reginald VelJohnson in 1952 (age 52); director James Cameron in 1954 (age 50); actor Jeff Perry in 1955 (age 49); actress Angela Bassett and singer/actress Madonna, both in 1958 (age 46); and actors Timothy Hutton and Laura Innes, both in 1960 (age 44).

On this date in history:

In 1812, British forces foiled plans for a U.S. invasion of Canada by capturing the city of Detroit.

In 1896, the North Country gold rush began with the discovery of gold in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory.

In 1939, New York's famous vaudeville house, the Hippodrome, closed after 34 years.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York of cancer at age 53.

In 1977, Elvis Presley. the king of rock 'n' roll, died of heart failure at his home in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42.

In 1987, a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Phoenix crashed on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156 people. A four-year-old girl was the sole survivor.

In 1990, U.S. naval forces were ordered to prevent ships from reaching or leaving the ports of Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

In 2003, power was being restored in the eight mostly northeastern states hit by the massive blackout but reports from Canada said electricity may not be fully restored throughout Ontario for several more days.

A thought for the day: Nicholas Murray Butler said, "An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less."