The almanac

Today is Saturday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2010 with 111 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include optician Carl Zeiss in 1816; American short story writer O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) in 1862; author D.H. Lawrence in 1885; Jimmie Davis, former Louisiana governor and songwriter ("You Are My Sunshine") in 1899; University of Alabama Football Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1913; former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1917; Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Tom Landry in 1924; U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, also in 1924 (age 86); filmmaker Brian De Palma in 1940 (age 70); entertainer Lola Falana in 1942 (age 68); rock musician Mickey Hart in 1943 (age 67); guitarist Leo Kottke in 1945 (age 65); actors Amy Madigan in 1950 (age 60), Virginia Madsen in 1961 (age 49), Kristy McNichol in 1962 (age 48); singer Mody in 1965 (age 45); actor/singer Harry Connick Jr. in 1967 (age 43); and rapper Ludacris in 1977 (age 33).

On this date in history:

In 1777, troops commanded by Gen. George Washington were defeated by the British under Gen. William Howe in the Battle of Brandywine.

In 1841, all members of U.S. President John Tyler's Cabinet except Secretary of State Daniel Webster resigned in protest of Tyler's veto of a banking bill.

In 1847, Stephen Foster's first hit, "Oh! Susanna," had its debut at a concert in a Pittsburgh saloon and soon became standard for minstrel troupes.

In 1921, Fatty Arbuckle, one of the foremost comedians of the silent movie days, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of a starlet in an alleged sexual assault during a wild drinking party. Arbuckle eventually was cleared but his career had been ruined.

In 1959, Congress passed a bill authorizing food stamps for low-income Americans.

In 1973, the elected Socialist government of Salvador Allende of Chile was toppled in a right-wing military coup supported by the CIA. Allende died, reportedly by his own hand.

In 1985, Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit broke Ty Cobb's 57-year-old career Major League Baseball record. He finished his career with 4,256 hits.

In 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced negotiations to withdraw 11,000 Soviet military advisers from Cuba and eliminate a $2 billion annual subsidy.

In 1997, Mother Teresa received the first state funeral accorded a private citizen of India since the death of Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948.

In 1998, as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to release to the public the text of the Starr report, U.S. President Bill Clinton told religious leaders that he had sinned.

In 2001, Islamic terrorists attacked the United States, crashing two hijacked airliners into the twin towers at New York's World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently en route to Washington, when passengers jumped their captors. A reported 2,974 people were killed, most of them in the trade center towers, which collapsed.

U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to destroy the responsible terrorist organizations and the regimes that supported them. Osama bin Laden, a wealthy anti-American Saudi exile operating out of Afghanistan and leader of al-Qaida, a shadowy, far-flung terrorist organization, was identified as the ringleader of the attacks.

In 2002, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, under German indictment on 3,000 charges of murder stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was arrested in Pakistan with others allegedly linked to al-Qaida.

In 2004, a powerful Hurricane Ivan pounded Jamaica, popping roofs off houses, downing hundreds of trees and sending 23-foot waves ashore. The storm's death toll stood at 37 as it headed toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

In 2006, in a series of speeches commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq, an act he said had made the United States safer and likened the fight against terrorism to conflicts with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

In 2007, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaign said it would begin "vigorous" criminal background checks on its major fundraisers, a response to revelations about Norman Hsu, a fundraiser once convicted of fraud.

In 2008, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, forced into a runoff after a disputed election, agreed on a power-sharing arrangement.

In 2009, ACORN, the giant U.S. community reform association began losing major financial backing after videos surfaced allegedly showing employees counseling illegal activity.

Also in 2009, former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life in prison for embezzlement, bribe taking and money laundering on a corruption conviction. Chen and his wife, who also drew life in prison for corruption, were additionally fined more than $15 million.

A thought for the day: ""This is not only an attack on the United States but an attack on the civilized world," proclaimed German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults on New York and Washington.