The almanac

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2009 with 338 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1756; author Lewis Carroll ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland") in 1832; labor organizer Samuel Gompers in 1850; composer Jerome Kern in 1885; U.S. Navy Adm. Hyman Rickover, "father of the nuclear Navy," in 1900; bandleader Skitch Henderson in 1918; actors Donna Reed in 1921, Troy Donahue in 1936, James Cromwell in 1940 (age 69); Mimi Rogers in 1956 (age 53) and Bridget Fonda in 1964 (age 45).

On this date in history:

In 1606, the surviving conspirators in the "Gunpowder Treason" plot to blow up the English Parliament and the king of England on Nov. 5, 1605, were convicted and executed four days later.

In 1880, Thomas Edison was granted a patent for an electric incandescent lamp.

In 1910, Thomas Crapper, often described as the prime developer of the flush toilet mechanism as it is known today, died in England.

In 1926, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird launched a revolution in communication and entertainment with the first public demonstration of a true television system in London.

In 1967, U.S. astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a fire aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch simulation at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

In 1973, the United States and North Vietnam signed a cease-fire agreement. The same day, the United States announced an end to the military draft.

In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan acknowledged mistakes and accepted responsibility in the Iran arms scandal.

In 1991, U.S. planes bombed the pipelines to Kuwaiti oil fields to cut off the flow of oil into the Persian Gulf.

In 1996, France conducted an open-air nuclear test in the South Pacific.

In 1998, in his State of the Union address, U.S. President Bill Clinton hailed the fact that the federal government would have a balanced budget in 1999 -- the first in 30 years.

In 2003, the Bush administration labeled as inadequate Iraq's response to U.N. disarmament demands.

Also in 2003, the head U.N. inspector for atomic weapons said no evidence had been found that Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program.

In 2004, Jack Paar, who brought sophisticated humor to late-night TV as the host of "The Tonight Show," died following a long illness. He was 85.

In 2005, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded as violence swept Iraq days before national elections.

Also in 2005, U.N. officials in Sudan said about 100 people were killed or injured in the bombing by Sudanese government planes of a north Darfur village.

In 2007, as the Bush administration sought more troops for Iraq, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Washington to urge a U.S. troop withdrawal.

In 2008, Israeli officials announced the restoration of fuel shipments to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel imposed a fuel blockade on Gaza and sealed all border crossings in response to increased Hamas rocket attacks.

A thought for the day: Rabindranath Tagore wrote that, "Trees are the Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven."