The almanac

Today is Thursday, July 30, the 211th day of 2009 with 154 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include English novelist Emily Bronte in 1818; auto pioneer Henry Ford in 1863; baseball player/manager Casey Stengel in 1890; English sculptor Henry Moore in 1898; Baseball Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig in 1934 (age 75); film director Peter Bogdanovich in 1939 (age 70); singer Paul Anka in 1941 (age 68); California governor/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1947 (age 62); and actors Ken Olin in 1954 (age 55), Delta Burke in 1956 (age 53), Laurence Fishburne in 1961 (age 48), Lisa Kudrow in 1963 (age 46) and Hilary Swank in 1974 (age 35).

On this date in history:

In 1619, in Jamestown, Va., the first elected legislative assembly in the New World -- the House of Burgesses -- convened in the choir loft of the town's church.

In 1932, Walt Disney released his first color cartoon, "Flowers and Trees," made in three-color Technicolor.

In 1936, author Margaret Mitchell sold the film rights for "Gone With the Wind" to movie producer David O. Selznick for $50,000, most ever for a first novel.

In 1974, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, by a vote of 21-17, approved a third article of impeachment against U.S. President Richard Nixon, charging him with ignoring congressional subpoenas. Nixon resigned before the issue went to trial.

In 1975, former Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa was last seen outside a suburban Detroit restaurant. He was declared dead in 1982.

In 1976, Kate Smith made her last public appearance on this date, singing her signature number "God Bless America" on a TV program honoring the U.S. Bicentennial.

In 1991, a special U.N. commission to Iraq announced it had found 46,000 chemical shells and warheads and 3,000 tons of raw materials for weapons.

In 1994, the United States, Germany, Britain, France and Russia decided to tighten sanctions on the Serb-dominated government in what remained of Yugoslavia.

In 1997, suicide bombers detonated two bombs in an outdoor market in West Jerusalem, killing themselves and 13 other people.

In 1999, a Maryland grand jury indicted Linda Tripp for illegally taping her phone conversations with Monica Lewinsky.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II was present for the canonization of Pedro de San Jose Betanur of Guatemala, Central America's first saint, and Juan Diego of Mexico City, first American Indian saint.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush indicated he would favor a law or constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages. The Vatican also condemned gay unions.

In 2004, the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution demanding Sudan disarm within 30 days and prosecute those responsible for thousands of deaths in Darfur.

In 2005, British police said they arrested six men and one woman in the failed July 21 London subway bombings. That brought to 13 the number of suspects in custody in the apparent, unsuccessful attempt to match the July 7 attack that killed 56.

In 2006, an Israeli air raid leveled a building housing civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana, reportedly killing at least 65 people, mostly women and children. Israeli officials said the wrong building was hit.

In 2007, federal lawmen swept across the Alaska home of seven-term Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, allegedly looking for evidence in an ongoing bribery investigation involving a convicted oil field contractor.

In 2008, while there were glimmers of hope, the overall U.S. economy continued its slump. July reports put the month's lost jobs at 51,000 when the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, a four-year high. The Dow Jones industrials ended the month up 0.3 percent at 11,378.02 and crude oil prices closed at $124 a barrel, down 11 percent from June.

Also in 2008, embroiled in a corruption investigation into alleged events before he became Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert announced he was resigning his post as soon as his party chose a new leader.

A thought for the day: U.S. President U.S. Grant said, "Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately you occasionally find men disgrace labor."