The almanac

Today is Saturday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2010 with 356 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include women's suffrage and peace movement leader Carrie Chapman Catt in 1859; pioneer psychologist John Watson in 1878; Czech writer Karel Capek in 1980; choreographer George Balanchine in 1904; French novelist Simone de Beauvoir in 1908; Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States, in 1913; striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee in 1914; actors Fernando Lamas in 1915, Lee Van Cleef in 1925 and Bob Denver in 1935; author Judith Krantz in 1928 (age 82); hall of fame football player Bart Starr in 1934 (age 76); sportscaster Dick Enberg in 1935 (age 75); singer Joan Baez and actor Susannah York, both in 1941 (age 69); rock 'n' roll guitarist Jimmy Page in 1944 (age 66); country singer Crystal Gayle in 1951 (age 59); actress Joely Richardson in 1965 (age 45); bandleader Dave Matthews in 1967 (age 43); and golfer Sergio Garcia in 1980 (age 30).

On this day in history:

In 1768, the first modern circus was staged in London.

In 1788, Connecticut became the fifth U.S. state.

In 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union.

In 1945, in World War II, U.S. troops invaded the Philippine island of Luzon and liberated Manila.

In 1951, the U.N. headquarters opens in New York.

In 1969, the British-French supersonic Concorde jetliner made its first test flight at Bristol, England.

In 1972, the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth was gutted by fire while docked in Hong Kong.

In 1996, rebels in the Russian republic of Chechnya overran the town of Kizlyar and took 2,000 hostages at a hospital and in nearby homes.

In 2004, a Kenyan survey said about 1 million adults were infected with HIV in the country, one-third of previous estimates.

In 2007, fierce fighting was reported in Baghdad between Sunni Muslim insurgents and Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops and air assaults. Fighting flared soon after a new security plan for the city was announced.

Also in 2007, Venezuelan stocks fell almost 19 percent -- their biggest drop on record – and the country's currency lost almost one-third of its value after President Hugo Chavez pledged to nationalize the country's utilities.

In 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush began a trip to the Middle East, including his first visit as president to Israel. After meeting with Palestinian leaders, Bush called for an end to Israeli "occupation that began in 1967."

Also in 2008, the top U.N. peacekeeper warned the U.N. Security Council of a "grave deterioration" in security in Sudan's embattled Darfur region.

In 2009, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached on abuse of power charges, including accusations that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's empty U.S. Senate seat. The vote was 114-1.

A thought for the day: Seneca said, "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."