The almanac

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2010 with 44 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include King Louis XVIII of France in 1755; German astronomer and mathematician August Mobius in 1790; social reformer Grace Abbott in 1878; British army Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1887; drama teacher/actor Lee Strasberg in 1901; historian Shelby Foote in 1916; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; two-time Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bob Mathias in 1930; British comedian Peter Cook in 1937; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 72); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 68); model/actor Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 67); actor/director Danny DeVito, "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver and basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim, all in 1944 (age 66); U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, expected ot be the next Speaker of the House, in 1949 (age 61); actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 52); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 50); U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice in 1964 (age 46); actor Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 44); and writer Christopher Paolini in 1983 (age 27).

On this date in history:

In 1734, John Peter Zenger, who founded America's first regularly published newspaper, was arrested for allegedly libeling the colonial governor of New York.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress convened in Washington for the first time.

In 1869, the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

In 1881, Samuel Gompers organized the forerunner of the American Federation of Labor.

In 1969, strategic arms limitation talks began between the United States and the Soviet Union in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1989, riot police in Prague, Czechoslovakia, stormed into a crowd of more than 20,000 pro-democracy demonstrators, beating people with truncheons and firing tear gas.

In 1992, an appeals court in Washington ruled the Watergate tapes and Nixon presidential papers rightfully belonged to U.S. President Richard Nixon when he left office in 1974.

In 1993, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Also in 1993, Nigeria Defense Minister Sani Abacha announced he had dissolved the government and declared himself the nation's ruler.

In 1997, 60 people were killed when six Islamic militants opened fire on a group of tourists at Luxor, Egypt.

In 2002, the first thorough examination of many of President John F. Kennedy's medical records found he was in far greater pain and taking many more medications than the public knew at the time.

In 2003, accused Washington sniper John Muhammad was convicted of capital murder by a jury in Virginia Beach, Va., and sentenced to die. He was executed on Nov. 10, 2009.

In 2004, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia was developing a new missile system.

Also in 2004, Pakistani authorities announced an Islamic militant wanted in connection with the killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl had been killed in a shootout with police.

In 2005, U.S. Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Vietnam veteran and ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Committee who supported the 2003 invasion, called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants, ending a 14-year moratorium on the devices.

In 2007, at least 30 bodies wrapped in black plastic and dead for some time were found in a mass grave a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad.

In 2008, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed four people, leveled hundreds of homes and triggered a tsunami warning.

In 2009, U.S. residents were almost evenly divided over efforts in Congress to reform the country's healthcare system with 48 percent for the changes and 49 percent against, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated.

A thought for the day: As Jane Ace put it, "Time wounds all heels."