The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 19, the 292nd day of 2005 with 73 to follow.

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

Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include English physician and scholar 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; newspaper columnist Jack Anderson in 1922 (age 83); English spy novelist John Le Carre, whose real name is David Cornwell, in 1931 (age 74); pop artist Peter Max in 1937 (age 68); actor John Lithgow and feminist Patricia Ireland, both in 1945 (age 60); former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 1962 (age 43) and Amy Carter, daughter of former President Carter, in 1967 (age 38).

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 setback, with the bellwether Dow Jones industrial average nose-diving 508 points in one session.

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

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 said in his final report about the White House travel office scandal dubbed "Travelgate" that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton gave "factually false" sworn testimony. But, he said, 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.

In 2004, a second teenager was charged with plotting a mass murder at Marshfield High School in Massachusetts to emulate the 1999 Columbine massacre.

Also in 2004, a Pentagon survey of U.S. Army reservists indicated they had increasing doubts about their units' war readiness and less enthusiasm for re-enlisting.

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