The almanac

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2009 with 324 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn. The evening stars are Venus, 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 82); actor Robert Wagner in 1930 (age 79); singer Roberta Flack in 1937 (age 72); Olympic gold medal swimmer Mark Spitz in 1950 (age 59); and actress Laura Dern in 1967 (age 42).

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 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 long=-time companion, Camilla Parker Bowles, in April.

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

Also in 2006, the price for fixing the Hurricane Katrina-shredded roof of the New Orleans Superdome came to $32 million, more than twice the original estimate.

In 2007, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus assumed control of the U.S. forces in Iraq at a ceremony in Baghdad. He described his new job as "hard but not hopeless."

Also in 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States was provoking a new nuclear arms race as it destabilized relations by "an almost uncontained hyper-use of military force."

In 2008, U.S. military officials filed capital charges against six al-Qaida members for their roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The admitted mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and the others were detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Also in 2008, masterpieces by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet, with a combined worth of $163 million, were stolen from the Zurich Museum in one of the largest art robberies in history.

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.