The almanac

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Today is Monday, June 18, the 170th day of 2012 with 196 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Cyrus Curtis, founder and publisher of the Ladies' Home Journal, in 1850; journalist and publisher Edward W. Scripps in 1854; British mountain climber George Mallory in 1886; singer-actor Jeanette MacDonald in 1903; actor Keye Luke in 1904; legendary Tin Pan Alley composer Sammy Cahn and financial journalist Sylvia Porter, both in 1913; actors E.G. Marshall in 1914 and Richard Boone in 1917; baseball Hall of Fame member Lou Brock in 1939 (age 73); South African President Thabo Mbeki, singer/composer Paul McCartney and film critic Roger Ebert, all in 1942 (age 70); actors Carol Kane and Isabella Rossellini, both in 1952 (age 60); and singer Jemma Griffiths in 1975 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1812, the United States declared war on Britain.

In 1815, England's Duke of Wellington and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in Belgium.

In 1975, Saudi Arabian Prince Museid was publicly beheaded in Riyadh for the assassination of King Faisal.

In 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a strategic arms control treaty in Vienna, Austria.

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as the space shuttle Challenger was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

In 1990, James Edward Pough, 42, whose car had been repossessed, killed eight people and wounded five more before committing suicide at a General Motors Acceptance Corp. loan office in Jacksonville, Fla. He was believed to have killed two others a day earlier.

In 1996, the U.S. Senate issued its Whitewater reports. The Republican report accused first lady Hillary Clinton of obstruction of justice.

Also in 1996, Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski was charged with two killings in California; he pleaded innocent. Charges from New Jersey would come later.

In 1997, Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned under pressure after his governing coalition lost its majority in Parliament.

In 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a cease-fire, ending their monthlong war.

In 2002, a suicide bomber killed himself and 19 others when he detonated explosives aboard a bus in Jerusalem.

In 2004, U.S. hostage Paul Johnson Jr., 49, was killed by his Saudi captors despite pleas from senior Muslim clerics.

In 2006, some 800 U.S. National Guard troops began working along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border as part of a federal plan to slow illegal immigration.

In 2007, the United States and the European Union announced they would resume aid to Palestinians. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians waited at the Israeli border trying to escape from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

In 2008, the U.S. Congress overrode a presidential veto of the $290 billion farm bill, providing agricultural subsidies, federal food stamps, foreign food aid and other programs for a 5-year period.

Also in 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush urged Congress to rescind a law, signed by his father, President George H.W. Bush, that prohibits offshore drilling for oil.

In 2009, Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford surrendered to the FBI after a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of running a Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded some 30,000 investors out of $7 billion.

Also in 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that prisoners have no right to a DNA test to prove their innocence long after they are convicted of a crime.

In 2010, Hartford, Conn. Mayor Eddie Perez was convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy.

In 2011, flooding, triggered by heavy rain in 12 provinces, created havoc in southern and central China, forcing thousands to flee from their homes. The death toll topped 300. Other parts of China were in a severe drought.

A thought for the day: Jose Ortega y Gasset defined civilization as "nothing else than the attempt to reduce force to being the last resort."