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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Sunday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2013 with 163 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include composer Chauncey Olcott ("When Irish Eyes Are Smiling") in 1858; author Ernest Hemingway and poet Hart Crane, both in 1899; golf Hall of Fame member Harold "Jug" McSpaden in 1908; Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in 1911; violinist Isaac Stern in 1920; singer Kay Starr in 1922 (age 91); producer Norman Jewison in 1926 (age 87); actors/comedians Don Knotts in 1924 and Robin Williams in 1951 (age 62); former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1938 (age 75); actor Edward Herrmann in 1943 (age 70); singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, and cartoonist Garry Trudeau, both in 1948 (age 65); and actor Jon Lovitz in 1957 (age 56).

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On this date in history:

In 1861, the first major military engagement of the Civil War occurred at Bull Run Creek, Va.

In 1873, Jesse James held up the Rock Island express train at Adair, Iowa, and escaped with $3,000.

In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tenn., which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in one of the great confrontations in legal history, ended with John Thomas Scopes convicted and fined $100 for teaching evolution in violation of state law.

In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin lifted off from the surface of the moon.

In 1970, after 11 years of construction, the massive Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt was completed, ending the cycle of flood and drought in the Nile River region but triggering an environmental controversy.

In 2000, a report from special counsel John Danforth cleared U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the government of wrongdoing in the April 19, 1993, fire that ended the Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas.

In 2007, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final installment in the best-selling series, sold more than 8.3 million copies on its first day in bookstores.

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In 2008, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, a central figure in the Bosnian civil war of the 1990s, was arrested after a 13-year manhunt and charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama continued his campaign for healthcare reform legislation, reaching out to Americans on prime-time TV, lashing at critics and warning lawmakers that, if nothing happens now, nothing will change.

In 2011, Greece continued efforts to climb out of a financial chasm with a second bailout pledge from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund worth $157 billion. Earlier, the nation dealt with its debt crisis with the help of a $146 billion loan package.

In 2012, Staff Sgt. Luis A. Walker, a U.S. Air Force boot camp instructor convicted of sexual offenses, including rape, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The victims were female trainees.


A thought for the day: John Wayne said, "Talk low, talk slow -- and don't say too much."

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