The Almanac

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Today is Saturday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2007 with 324 to follow.

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

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 Judith Anderson in 1897; actor Lon Chaney Jr. in 1906; operatic soprano Leontyne Price in 1927 (age 80); actor Robert Wagner in 1930 (age 77); singer Roberta Flack in 1937 (age 70); Olympic gold medal swimmer Mark Spitz in 1950 (age 57); and actress Laura Dern in 1967 (age 40).

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, U.S. 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, U.S. 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 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, 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 U.S. 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 assault.

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

In 2006, the Winter Olympic Games opened in Turin, Italy.

Also in 2006, former Haitian President Rene Preval appeared headed toward a first-round victory in the troubled nation's latest presidential elections.

And, the price for fixing the Hurricane Katrina-shredded roof of the New Orleans Superdome came to $32 million, more than twice the original estimate.

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.