The almanac

Today is Sunday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2011 with 34 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the centigrade thermometer, in 1701; American historian Charles Beard and Israeli statesman Chaim Weizmann, both in 1874; producer David Merrick in 1911; entertainer "Buffalo Bob" Smith ("The Howdy Dowdy Show") in 1917; writer Gail Sheehy in 1937 (age 74); actor and martial arts star Bruce Lee in 1940; rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 1942 and Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Henry Carr, also in 1942 (age 69); singer Eddie Rabbitt in 1941; Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy, in 1957 (age 54); actors James Avery in 1948 (age 63), Curtis Armstrong in 1953 (age 58), Fisher Stevens in 1963 (age 48), Robin Givens in 1964 (age 47) and Jaleel White in 1976 (age 35); Bill Nye "The Science Guy," in 1955 (age 56); and film director Kathryn Bigelow in 1951 (age 60).

On this date in history:

In 1759, town officials in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, evicted the Rev. Francis Gastrell from William Shakespeare's home after he cut down a 150-year-old tree that had been planted by the writer.

In 1901, the U.S. War Department authorized creation of the Army War College to instruct commissioned officers. It was built in Leavenworth, Kan.

In 1940, two months after Gen. Ion Antonescu seized power in Romania and forced King Carol II to abdicate, more than 60 aides of the exiled king, including Nicolae Iorga, a former minister and acclaimed historian, were executed.

In 1970, a man with a knife attempted to injure Pope Paul VI at Manila Airport in the Philippines.

In 1989, University of Chicago doctors implanted part of a woman's liver in her 21-month-old daughter in the nation's first living donor liver transplant.

Also in 1989, Virginia certified Douglas Wilder as the nation's first elected black governor by a margin of 0.38 percent of the vote.

In 1990, British treasury chief John Major was elected Conservative Party leader, succeeding Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.

In 1994, Bosnian Serbs took 150 U.N. peacekeepers hostage to prevent NATO airstrikes.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush swooped into Iraq under the cover of darkness in a surprise visit to U.S. forces in Baghdad to help serve Thanksgiving dinner.

In 2005, earthquakes struck China and Iran. At least 17 people died in the quake that rattled eastern China and at least 10 were killed when another tremor hit southern Iran.

In 2006, while deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein awaited court-ordered execution on his earlier mass murder conviction, Baghdad prosecutors resumed his second trial in which he and six others were charged with crimes against humanity in the deaths of as many as 180,000 Kurds in 1987-88.

In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush, addressing representatives from more than 40 countries before a meeting over Mideast peace, said Israeli and Palestinian leaders had agreed to initiate immediate talks on a peace treaty.

In 2008, authorities say fires and explosions rocked Mumbai 24 hours after a coordinated series of terrorist assaults struck India's largest city. Gunfire and explosions were reported at the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels and a Jewish center.

Also in 2008, Edna Scott Parker, who is said to be the oldest living person in the world, died at age 115 in Indiana.

In 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution denouncing Iran for building a secret uranium enrichment site. The IAEA, on a 25-3 vote with six members abstaining and China and Russia supporting passage, also demanded the project be halted immediately.

In 2010, South Korea and the United States shrugged off dire North Korean warnings and started four days of naval exercises in the Yellow Sea. North Korea, which shelled a South island a few days earlier in an effort to head off the exercises, warned the drills would bring the area closer to "the brink of war."

A thought for the day: King Louis XVIII of France had a favorite saying, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings."