The Almanac

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Today is Wednesday, Jan. 18, the 18th day of 2006 with 347 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include English physician Peter Roget, who compiled "Roget's Thesaurus," in 1779; American orator and statesman Daniel Webster in 1782; English author A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, who wrote "Winnie the Pooh," in 1882; comedian Oliver Hardy of the legendary Laurel and Hardy team, in 1892; actors Cary Grant in 1904 and Danny Kaye in 1913; filmmaker John Boorman in 1933 (age 73); Temptations singer David Ruffin in 1941; and actor Kevin Costner in 1955 (age 51).

On this date in history:

In 1871, William of Prussia was declared the first German emperor.

In 1943, Moscow announced the 16-month Nazi siege of Leningrad was lifted.

In 1966, Indira Gandhi, daughter of the late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, became prime minister of India.

In 1968, the United States and Soviet Union agreed on a draft of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

In 1990, a Los Angeles jury in the nation's longest criminal trial acquitted Raymond Buckey, 31, and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 63, on 52 charges of molestation of students at the McMartin Pre-School.

Also in 1990, District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry was arrested in an FBI sting at a downtown hotel and charged with buying and smoking crack cocaine.

In 1991, Eastern Airlines stopped flying and said it would liquidate its assets. The announcement followed a 2-year effort to escape bankruptcy.

In 1993, seven people were killed and nearly 70 more injured when two commuter trains collided on a bridge in Gary, Ind.

In 1994, Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh issued his final report on the scandal. He blasted former President George H.W. Bush for his Christmas Eve 1992 pardons of six Iran-Contra defendants.

In 1995, officials in Paris announced the discovery of a magnificent display of Paleolithic cave art in southern France.

In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, filed for divorce from Michael Jackson after 20 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable difference.

In 1997, Norwegian Borge Ousland completed a 1,675-mile trek across Antarctica, the first time anyone traversed the continent alone.

In 2001, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson admitted he had fathered a daughter born out of wedlock in 1999 to an employee of his Rainbow/PUSH coalition.

In 2002, in another anti-terrorist step ordered by Congress, U.S. airlines began inspecting every piece of luggage checked by passengers.

In 2003, protesters nationwide demonstrated in opposition to possible war in Iraq.

In 2004, at least 23 people were reported killed when a powerful car bomb exploded in Baghdad.

In 2005, a man who threatened to blow up his van one block from the White House surrendered without incident after a lengthy standoff with police in what turned out to be a child-custody dispute.

A thought for the day: it was Jeff Pesis who defined hardware as "the parts of a computer that can be kicked."