The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 6, the 280th day of 2004 with 86 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," in 1820; inventor and manufacturer George Westinghouse in 1846; tennis champion Helen Wills Moody in 1905; actresses Janet Gaynor in 1906 and Carole Lombard in 1908; Norwegian ethnologist, archaeologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl in 1914; former "60 Minutes" journalist Shana Alexander in 1925 (age 79); and actresses Britt Eklund in 1942 (age 62), Stephanie Zimbalist in 1956 (age 48), and Elisabeth Shue in 1963 (age 41).

On this date in history:

In 1853, Antioch College opened in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It was the first non-sectarian school to offer equal opportunity for both men and women.

In 1921, sports writer Grantland Rice was at the microphone as the World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time.

On this date In 1927, the movies began learning to talk. "The Jazz Singer," Hollywood's legendary "first talkie," premiered in New York, ushering in the era of sound to great moviegoer enthusiasm and heralded the end of the silents.

In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated as he reviewed a military parade in Cairo.

In 1985, England's worst post-war race rioting, which began Sept. 9 in Birmingham, spread to the Tottenham section of London. One officer died and 125 people were injured, with snipers shooting at police in England for the first time.

In 1989, Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Bette Davis died of cancer in a suburb of Paris, France. She was 81.

In 1991, Anita Hill, a former personal assistant to Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas, accused Thomas of sexual harassment from 1981-83.

In 1992, a study said two-thirds of adults have oral herpes, and one-third have genital herpes.

In 1993, Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan announced he was retiring.

In 1994, South African President Nelson Mandela addressed a joint session of Congress.

In 1997, President Clinton used his new line-item veto power to eliminate 38 military spending projects.

And, in 2001 sports, durable Cal Ripkin Jr. retired after a spectacular baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles that included playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games.

In 2002, hundreds of law officers searched without success for the sniper, or snipers, blamed for six apparently random deaths in the Washington area over the past week.

In 2003, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States faced the possibility of a futile war in Iraq which he said, according to a published report, "could become a new center, a new magnet for all destructive elements."

A thought for the day: Tansu Ciller, the first woman prime minister of Turkey, said, "Nobody can resist a ripe idea. The idea today is change."