The Almanac

Today is Friday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2006 with 324 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include journalist William Allen White in 1868; Russian author Boris Pasternak in 1890; entertainer Jimmy Durante in 1893; German dramatist Bertolt Brecht in 1898; actress Dame Judith Anderson also in 1898; actor Lon Chaney Jr. in 1905; operatic soprano Leontyne Price in 1927 (age 79); actor Robert Wagner in 1930 (age 76); singers Roberta Flack in 1940 (age 66) and Donovan in 1946 (age 60); Olympic gold medal swimmer Mark Spitz in 1950 (age 56); and actress Laura Dern in 1967 (age 39).

On this date in history:

In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War between Britain and Spain.

In 1897, the slogan "All The News That's Fit To Print" first appeared on page one of The New York Times.

In 1962, captured U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was returned to the United States by Russia in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

In 1964, 82 Australian sailors died when an aircraft carrier and a destroyer collided off New South Wales, Australia.

In 1984, Americans and other foreigners were evacuated from Beirut following the withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon.

In 1987, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop endorsed television advertising for condoms to help curb the spread of AIDS.

In 1991, ANC gunmen ambushed an Inkatha Freedom Party motorcade outside Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, killing 17 and wounding 29.

In 1992, an Indianapolis jury convicted former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in the rape of a beauty pageant contestant.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton moved to make good on a campaign pledge to cut the government. He announced a 100,000-person reduction in the federal work force over the next three years.

Also in 1993, a gang of more than 40 people ambushed two trucks in a mountainous region of Mexico, shooting to death at least 24 men in a drug-related family feud.

In 1998, Monica Lewinsky's mother began two days of testimony before a grand jury investigating allegations that President Bill Clinton had an affair with the former White House intern.

Also in 1998, after being vacant for more than three years, the office of surgeon general was filled when the Senate approved the nomination of Dr. David Satcher, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control.

In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security issued national guidelines on preparing for an attack involving chemical, biological or radiological weapons.

In 2004, at least 43 people died in the crash of an Iranian civilian airplane near Sharjah airport the United Arab Emirates. There were three survivors.

In 2005, as North Korea boasted publicly for the first time that it had nuclear weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the nation to return to disarmament talks.

Also in 2005, a previously undisclosed report from the U.S. Sept. 11 commission showed the risk of suicide aircraft attacks was known months prior to the 2001 attacks.

And, Prince Charles, Britain's heir to the throne, announced plans to marry his companion of 35 years, Camilla Parker Bowles, in April.

A thought for the day: "To keep your marriage brimming, / With love in the loving cup, / Whenever you're wrong, admit it; / Whenever you're right, shut up." Ogden Nash said that.