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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Monday, July 29, the 210th day of 2013 with 155 to follow.

The moon is waning. 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 Leo. They include French historian Alexis de Tocqueville in 1805; novelist Booth Tarkington in 1869; Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1883; actor Theda Bara in 1885; composer Sigmund Romberg (" Lover Come Back to Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"), in 1887; Dag Hammarskjold, second U.N. secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in 1905; actors William Powell in 1892, Clara Bow in 1905 and Richard Egan in 1921; former U.S. labor secretary and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., in 1936 (age 77); TV anchorman Peter Jennings in 1938; actor David Warner in 1941 (age 72); documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Geddy Lee and musician Patti Scialfa, all in 1953 (age 60); country singer Martina McBride in 1966 (age 47); actors Timothy Omundson in 1969 (age 44) and Wil Wheaton in 1972 (age 41); and Formula 1 champion driver Fernando Alonso in 1981 (age 32).

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In 1588, off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain's "Invincible Armada" was defeated by an English naval force under the command of Charles Howard and Francis Drake.

In 1848, at the height of the potato famine in Ireland, an abortive nationalist revolt against English rule was crushed by government police in Tipperary.

In 1900, Italian King Umberto I was shot to death by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian-born anarchist who resided in the United States before returning to his homeland to kill the king.

In 1914, the first transcontinental telephone linkup was completed between San Francisco and New York City.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI upheld the prohibition of all artificial means of birth control for Roman Catholics.

In 1981, British Prince Charles, son of the queen, married Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

In 1993, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1994, the Senate approved the nomination of federal Judge Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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In 1996, China conducted an underground atomic test and then declared a moratorium on such explosions.

In 1999, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., fined U.S. President Bill Clinton $89,000 for lying about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

In 2005, authorities said heavy rains and flooding in Mumbai and surrounding areas killed 1,000 people.

In 2008, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven felony counts accusing him of failing to disclose gifts from an oil services company.

In 2009, major U.S. technology companies Microsoft and Yahoo! agreed to collaborate on Internet search and advertising in an effort to better compete with rival Google.

In 2012, Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the United States needed to take Iran at its word when it called for the extermination of Israel.


A thought for the day: Samuel Davies, 18th-century American educator, said, "Intolerance has been the curse of every age and state."

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