The Almanac

Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2006 with 45 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Tiberius, emperor of Rome, in 42 B.C.; composer W.C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues," in 1873; Broadway director and playwright George S. Kaufman in 1889; jazz guitarist and bandleader Eddie Condon in 1905; actors Burgess Meredith in 1909, Marg Helgenberger in 1958 (age 48), and Lisa Bonet in 1967 (age 39); and Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in 1977 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1892, the University of Chicago, a founding member of the Big 10 Conference, won its first football game, beating Illinois, 10-4.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the union.

In 1933, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

In 1984, the space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth with the first two satellites ever plucked from space.

In 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter were shot to death at their residence in San Salvador. Three years later, in 1991, House Democrats reported that Salvadoran Defense Minister Gen. Rene Ponce had planned the killings.

In 1989, seven children were killed when a tornado struck an elementary school near Newburgh, N.Y.

In 1990, the Soviet Union indicated its approval of the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

In 1992, a U.S. federal judge in Los Angeles refused to reconsider the Navy's appeal of an injunction forcing reinstatement of sailor Keith Meinhold, the first openly homosexual person on active duty in the U.S. military.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council voted to end the manhunt for Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed.

In 1997, 85 percent of citizens of Hungary voted in favor of joining NATO.

In 2001, a letter containing anthrax was found at the Capitol in Washington, addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

Also in 2001, U.S. officials said a bomb had killed Muhammad Atef, one of Osama bin Laden's oldest and closest strategists who was believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks.

In 2002, top U.S. national security advisers were reported discussing creation of a domestic intelligence organization that would take over the FBI's responsibility for counter-terrorism spying and analysis.

In 2003, powerful explosions rocked Baghdad, Iraq, while electric power went out in broad sections of the city as U.S. troops attacked suspected insurgent hideouts.

In 2004, Condoleezza Rice was reported in line to succeed Colin Powell as U.S. secretary of State.

Also in 2004, Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped Iraqi CARE director, was believed to have been killed after Al-Jazeera television received a video of a woman's slaying. The act drew widespread condemnation from world leaders.

In 2005, a heretofore secret White House document is said to confirm reports that oil company executives met with White House officials when the Bush administration was fashioning its 2001 energy policy.

A thought for the day: it was Henry Kissinger who said, "History knows no resting places and no plateaus."