The Almanac

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 19, the 293rd day of 2004 with 73 to follow.

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

Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include English physician and scholar Sir Thomas Browne in 1605; abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay in 1810; historian and city planner Lewis Mumford in 1895; actress LaWanda Page ("Sanford and Son") in 1920 (age 84); newspaper columnist Jack Anderson in 1922 (age 82); English spy novelist John Le Carre, whose real name is David Cornwell, in 1931 (age 73); pop artist Peter Max in 1937 (age 67); actor John Lithgow and feminist Patricia Ireland, both in 1945 (age 59); former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 1962 (age 42) and Amy Carter, daughter of former President Carter, in 1967 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1781, Britain's Lord Cornwallis surrendered with more than 7,000 troops to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va., effectively ending the American War of Independence.

In 1812, Napoleon's beaten French army began its long, disastrous retreat from Moscow.

In 1982, carmaker John DeLorean was arrested in Los Angeles and charged in a $24 million cocaine scheme aimed at salvaging his bankrupt sports car company. He was tried and acquitted.

In 1987, the New York stock market suffered its biggest ever setback, with the bellwether Dow Jones Industrial Average nose-diving 508 points in one session.

In 1990, the Soviet Parliament approved a compromise plan for a cautious move toward market economy.

In 1993, a United Nations oil and arms embargo against Haiti was reinstated in an effort to return the exiled Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president of Haiti.

Also in 1993, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was re-elected prime minister.

In 1994, more than 20 people were killed in the terrorist bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel. Islamic militants claimed responsibility.

In 2000, independent counsel Robert Ray released his final report about the White House travel office scandal dubbed "Travelgate." In it, he said First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton gave "factually false" sworn testimony but that, as had been reported earlier, there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges.

In 2002, after four days of inactivity, the Washington area sniper reappeared and shot and seriously wounded a man in a restaurant parking lot, triggering a massive response from police forces already on high alert.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa, the world famous nun, before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims packed into St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, the last formal step to sainthood. .

A thought for the day: Greek playwright Euripides wrote, "Do not consider painful what is good for you."