The almanac

Today is Thursday, Aug. 8, the 220th day of 2013 with 145 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include the United States' first professional architect, Charles Bulfinch, in 1763; American black explorer Matthew Henson in 1866; Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in 1879; poet Sara Teasdale in 1884; author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ("The Yearling") in 1896; film music composer/conductor Victor Young in 1900; musician Benny Carter in 1907; Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg in 1908; actor Sylvia Sidney in 1910; movie producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1919; aquatic actor Esther Williams in 1921; actor Rory Calhoun in 1922; singers Mel Tillis in 1932 (age 81) and Joe Tex in 1933; actor Dustin Hoffman in 1937 (age 76); singer Connie Stevens in 1938 (age 75); actor Keith Carradine in 1949 (age 64); writer/journalist Randy Shilts and former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (age 62), both in 1951; TV personality Deborah Norville in 1958 (age 55); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member The Edge (born David Evans) in 1961 (age 52); tennis star Roger Federer in 1981 (age 32); actor Katie Leung in 1987 (age 26); and Beatrice, princess of York, in 1988 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1911, newsreels became a standard part of U.S. movie screenings when the French film company Pathe began releasing weekly the black-and-white features to theaters.

In 1940, the German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain.

In 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, two days after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and seven days before Tokyo surrendered.

In 1968, Richard Nixon won the Republican nomination for president. He was elected in November, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey and independent George Wallace.

In 1974, facing expected impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign. He left office the next day.

In 1988, the first night game at Chicago's Wrigley Field was played. The park was the last major league stadium to add lights for night baseball.

In 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein annexed Kuwait.

In 1991, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved membership applications from North and South Korea.

In 2003, U.S. leaders of the Episcopal Church approved a landmark local option resolution on the issue of same-sex marriages, leaving it to local dioceses whether to bless unions of gay and lesbian couples. Church leaders earlier in the week approved their first openly gay bishop.

In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a major energy bill as oil and gas prices climbed to record levels. The measure sought to stimulate domestic production in traditional and alternative energy sources.

In 2007, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on a charge of making sexual advances to an undercover police officer at a Minneapolis airport restroom.

In 2008, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., who ran for president in 2004 and dropped out of the 2008 race in January, admitted he had an affair in 2006 with a campaign worker.

In 2009, a sightseeing helicopter with six people aboard collided with a small plane carrying three people over the Hudson River in New York. There were no survivors.

In 2010, Pakistan estimated 1,600 people were killed in monsoon-triggered flooding, and officials said China's deadliest mudslides had claimed more than 1,100 lives. Hundreds of people were missing in the two disasters.

In 2012, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, expressing his support for tougher anti-gun laws, said it's "hard for anyone to refute" the damage being done by firearms.

A thought for the day: Actress Julia Roberts said, "You can be true to the character all you want but you've got to go home with yourself."