The Almanac

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Today is Saturday, Nov. 4, the 308th day of 2006 with 57 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British King William III, known as William of Orange, in 1650; humorist Will Rogers in 1879; reporter Walter Cronkite in 1916 (age 90); actors Art Carney in 1918, Martin Balsam in 1919 and Loretta Swit in 1937 (age 69); U.S. first lady Laura Bush in 1946 (age 60); controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1946; actors Markie Post in 1950 (age 56), Ralph Macchio ("The Karate Kid") in 1961 (age 45), and actor Matthew McConaughey and singer/actor/songwriter Sean "Puffy" Combs, both in 1969 (age 35).

On this date in history:

In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of ancient Egypt's child-king, Tutankhamen.

In 1952, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, ending 20 years of Democratic administrations.

In 1956, Soviet forces entered Budapest to crush the anti-communist revolt in Hungary.

In 1979, Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking some 90 people hostage, 63 of them Americans.

In 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan was elected the 40th U.S. president in a landslide victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter.

In 1990, renowned singer/actress Mary Martin died at age 76.

In 1991, Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, returned home, ending more than five years of exile in the United States.

In 1993, Canadian Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien was sworn in as prime minister.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to withdraw the remaining 17,000 U.N. troops from Somalia by mid-March 1995.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, 73, was assassinated by a Jewish extremist following a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

In 2001, intense bombing by U.S.-led forces pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on a tour of the region, told reporters that strikes on Taliban targets were showing "measurable progress."

In 2002, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston apologized for assigning priests who may have been sexually abusive to parishes where they continued to have access to children.

In 2003, the elevation of a gay Episcopal priest to bishop prompted worldwide opposition, including a remark from a Kenyan cleric: "The devil has clearly entered our church."

In 2004, medical sources in Paris confirmed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was brain dead. However, doctors denied they had removed Arafat from life support.

Also in 2004, U.S. Army reservists and guardsmen in Iraq said they saw looters make off with truckload of explosives from al-Qaqaa after the fall of Baghdad.

In 2005, protests turned violent at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina where demonstrators hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at security. However, thousands of protesters were peaceful during a meeting of 34 world leaders, including U.S. President George Bush.

A thought for the day: humorist Will Rogers said, "My forefathers didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat."