The Almanac

Today is Sunday, Nov. 28, the 333rd day of 2004 with 33 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 Sagittarius. They include English poet William Blake in 1757; John Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, in 1837; architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, in 1866; Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 1929 (age 75); actress Hope Lange in 1931 (age 73); former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., in 1936 (age 68); singer/songwriter Randy Newman in 1943 (age 61); ballet dancer Alexander Godunov and band leader Paul Shaffer ("The Late Show With David Letterman"), both in 1949 (age 55); actors Ed Harris in 1950 (age 54), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order") in 1952 (age 52), and Judd Nelson in 1959 (age 45); and comedian Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") in 1962 (age 42).

On this date in history:

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.

In 1919, Virginia-born Lady Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.

In 1925, "The Grand Ole Opry," the famed country music show, made its radio debut.

In 1942, a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston killed 491 people. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death.

In 1958, the United States fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time.

In 1963, Cape Canaveral, the space center in Florida, was renamed Cape Kennedy to honor the assassinated president. Area residents later voted to revert to the original name.

In 1989, Czechoslovak Premier Adamec agreed to a coalition government. The next day, the Czechoslovak Parliament revoked the Communist Party's monopoly.

Also in 1989, a construction crane snapped in San Francisco. Five people were killed, 21 injured.

In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

In 1993, British officials confirmed they have made secret contacts with the outlawed Irish Republican Army in an effort to end the violence in Northern Ireland.

Also in 1993, Carlos Roberto Reina was elected president of Honduras.

In 1994, serial killer/cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer and a second inmate were beaten to death by another inmate at the Columbia Correctional Center in Portage, Wis.

In 2002, an explosion hit an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa in Kenya, killing at least 15 people, while at about the same time two missiles were fired at an Israeli passenger plane departing from Mombasa..

In 2003, an estimated 182 people were killed when two crowded ferries collided during a storm in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A thought for the day: Thomas Carlyle said, "...speech is of time, silence is of eternity."