The almanac

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 28, the 271st day of 2011 with 94 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Frances Willard, founder of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, in 1839; CBS Chairman William Paley and TV variety show host and columnist Ed Sullivan, both in 1901; former heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling in 1905; cartoonist Al Capp (L'il Abner) in 1909; convicted spy Ethel Rosenberg in 1915; actors Peter Finch in 1916, Arnold Stang in 1918, William Windom in 1923 (age 88) and Marcello Mastroianni in 1924; actor and animal rights advocate Brigitte Bardot in 1934 (age 77); musician Ben E. King in 1938 (age 73); football Hall of Fame member and former member of Congress Steve Largent in 1954 (age 57); hockey Hall of Fame member Grant Fuhr in 1962 (age 49); and actors Jeffrey Jones in 1946 (age 65), Janeane Garofalo in 1964 (age 47), Mira Sorvino in 1967 (age 44), Naomi Watts in 1968 (age 43) and Hillary Duff in 1987 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 490 B.C., the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon. A Greek soldier named Phidippides ran more than 26 miles to tell Athenians of the victory and died after his announcement. His feat provided the model for the modern marathon race.

In 1892, Mansfield University was the home team for the first night football game at Smythe Park in Mansfield, Pa.

In 1920, in baseball's biggest scandal, a grand jury indicted eight Chicago White Sox players for throwing the 1919 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.

In 1982, the first reports appeared of deaths in the Chicago area from Extra-strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Seven people died and the unsolved case resulted in tamper-proof packaging for consumer products.

In 1987, a federal appeals court declared Boston public schools officially desegregated after a 13-year effort.

In 1989, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii.

In 1992, a Pakistan jetliner carrying 167 people, including three Americans, crashed into a hill southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all aboard.

In 1993, U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton was the administration's lead witness in congressional hearings on the proposed national healthcare program.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat signed "phase two" of their peace agreement in Washington.

In 2000, right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon visited the sacred site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al Sharif to Muslims, sparking a deadly round of violence between Israelis and Palestinians that continued to escalate over the next two years.

In 2001, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to require members to put a stop to financing and training of terrorists within their borders.

In 2003, legendary Broadway and film director Elia Kazan died at his home in New York at the age of 94.

In 2004, the price of oil topped $50 a barrel for the first time in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In 2005, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the U.S. House of Representatives majority leader, was indicted in Texas for allegedly conspiring to violate a state fundraising law.

In 2006, in a move boosting support for the Afghan government, NATO voted to dramatically expand operations in Afghanistan.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives in defying a veto threat from President George W. Bush to approve an expansion of the child health insurance program. The bill would spend about $35 billion to expand health insurance to more than 4 million children.

In 2008, U.S. congressional negotiators and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agreed on a $700 billion banking industry bailout plan. It gave the Treasury unprecedented authority, including the ability to buy a range of troubled financial assets.

In 2009, Iran said it successfully tested long-range missiles, one of which has a range of 1,250 miles, which puts Moscow, Athens and southern Italy within striking distance.

In 2010, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said upper echelon Taliban leaders have sounded out senior Afghan government officials about possible reconciliation.

A thought for the day: U.S. writer Gertrude Stein said, "... the creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic."