The Almanac

Today is Sunday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2006 with 112 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include English scientist and clergyman John Needham in 1713; physicist Arthur Holly Compton in 1892; English critic Cyril Connolly in 1903; film director Robert Wise in 1914; golfer Arnold Palmer in 1929 (age 77); television journalist Charles Kuralt and baseball star Roger Maris, both in 1934; singer Jose Feliciano in 1945 (age 61); musician Joe Perry in 1950 (age 56), and actors Amy Irving in 1953 (age 53), Colin Firth in 1960 (age 46), and Clark Johnson ("Homicide: Life on the Street") in 1954 (age 52).

On this date in history:

In 1813, U.S. naval units under the command of Capt. Oliver Perry defeated a British squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie.

In 1823, Simon Bolivar, who led the wars for independence from Spain in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, was named president of Peru, with dictatorial powers.

In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for the sewing machine.

In 1963, blacks entered the white public schools of Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile, Ala., after U.S. President John Kennedy federalized the state's National Guard.

In 1996, the United Nations approved the new nuclear test ban treaty, 158-3.

Also in 1996, Hurricane Hortense hit Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, killing 20 people.

In 1998, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had face-to-face talks with David Trimble, leader of Northern Ireland's Protestant Unionists, for the first time.

In 2000, the U.S. government agreed to drop virtually all charges against Chinese-American scientist Wen Ho Lee, accused of stealing nuclear secrets from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

In 2002, Switzerland and Timor Leste joined the United Nations, expanding the membership roll to 191.

In 2003, the former treasurer of bankrupt Enron was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal wire fraud and ordered to give up close to $1 million in profits from his illegal transaction.

In 2004, top U.S. forensic document specialists said papers described by CBS News as proving U.S. President George Bush shirked military duty may have been faked.

In 2005, a Newsweek poll found that 38 percent of those asked said they approve of the job U.S. President George Bush is doing, a record low for Bush in the survey. Newsweek said it was further evidence the president's popularity was being hurt by government response to Hurricane Katrina.

Also in 2005, the Pentagon drafted a new policy under which the military would request presidential approval for pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.

And, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina's disruption has pushed gas prices in European countries to staggering levels. British drivers were reported paying the equivalent of $7 a gallon.

A thought for the day: LaRochefoucauld wrote, "Absence diminishes small passions and increases great ones, as wind blows out candles and fans fire."