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The Almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Sunday, July 16, the 197th day of 2006 with 168 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English painter Joshua Reynolds in 1723; Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science Church, in 1821; Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen in 1872; composer/pianist W.C. Handy in 1873; Percy Kilbride ("Pa Kettle") in 1888; vaudeville great Blossom Sealey in 1891; actress Barbara Stanwyck in 1907; actress/dancer Ginger Rogers in 1911; actor Barnard Hughes in 1915; former Miss America Bess Myerson in 1924 (age 82); singer/actor Ruben Blades and violinist Pinchas Zukerman, both in 1948 (age 58); and actors Phoebe Cates in 1963 (age 43) and Corey Feldman in 1971 (age 35).

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On this date in history:

In 1769, the first Roman Catholic mission in California was dedicated at the site of present-day San Diego.

In 1790, the U.S. Congress designated the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the U.S. government.

In 1945, the first test of the atom bomb was conducted at a super-secret base near Alamogordo, N.M.

In 1959, Billie Holiday, considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time despite a tragic life, died of cardiac failure at age 44.

In 1969, Apollo 11, the first moon-landing mission, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was unanimously nominated as the Republican candidate for president at the GOP National Convention in Detroit. He chose George Bush as his running mate after former U.S. President Gerald Ford declined to join the ticket.

In 1990, Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev dropped his objections to a unified Germany in NATO.

In 1991, at its London summit, the Group of Seven agreed to support the Soviet Union's economic reforms and its admission to the International Monetary Fund.

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In 1997, the Dow Jones industrial average rose above 8,000 for a record close at 8,033.88.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and her sister were killed when their single-engine plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard. The son of former U.S. President John Kennedy was 39.

In 2004, Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest following an investigation into a stock sale.

Also in 2004, at least 75 children were believed dead in a fire that engulfed a school in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu.

In 2005, Hurricane Emily, growing in strength, dumped heavy rain on Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and forecasters said the storm would pose a threat to the Mexican mainland and possibly the Texas Gulf Coast.

Also in 2005, Iraqi police sources said at least 50 people were killed and injured in an explosion at an oil reservoir south of Baghdad.

And, British police said a powerful explosive had been found in an apartment in the English town of Leeds, possibly related to the previous week's London bombings of three subway trains and a double-decker bus in which 54 people died and more than 700 were injured.

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A thought for the day: There is this from Ogden Nash: "The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk."

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