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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Monday, Sept. 9, the 252nd day of 2013 with 113 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include the Cardinal-duc de Richelieu, French statesman and Roman Catholic cardinal, in 1585; British Capt. William Bligh, of the HMS Bounty, in 1754; Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 1828; baseball Hall of Fame member Frank Chance in 1876; Alf Landon, the Kansas Republican who lost the 1936 presidential election to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1887; Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders in 1890; movie composer Arthur Freed in 1894; oddsmaker Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder in 1918; philanthropist Robert Wood Johnson III in 1920; actor Cliff Robertson in 1923 ; rhythm and blues singer Otis Redding in 1941; football Hall of Fame member Joe Theismann in 1949 (age 64); actors Tom Wopat in 1951 (age 62), Angela Cartwright in 1952 (age 61), Hugh Grant in 1960 (age 53), Adam Sandler in 1966 (age 47), Rachel Hunter in 1969 (age 44), Henry Thomas ("E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial") in 1971 (age 42) and Goran Visnjic in 1972 (age 41); singers Michael Buble in 1975 (age 38) and Hunter Hayes in 1991 (age 22); and rapper Soulja Slim in 1977.

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On this date in history:

In 1776, the second Continental Congress officially changed the new American nation's name from "United Colonies" to "United States."

In 1850, California became the 31st state.

In 1956, rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley appeared on national television for the first time, on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1971, more than 1,000 convicts took over the state prison at Attica, N.Y. and held hostages. Four days later, 28 convicts and nine hostages were killed as state police reclaimed the prison. The overall death toll was later set at 43.

In 1976, Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong died at age 82.

In 1990, Liberian President Samuel Doe was killed by rebels after visiting the headquarters of West African peacekeeping forces in Monrovia.

In 1993, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist in peace and security. In turn, Rabin declared the PLO the representative of the Palestinian people.

In 1995, Steffi Graf won her fourth U.S. Open women's singles title, defeating Monica Seles in her first appearance since a fan stabbed her in 1993.

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In 1998, independent counsel Kenneth Starr sent the U.S. House of Representatives his report on his investigation into U.S. President Bill Clinton. He said it contained "substantial and credible information ... that may constitute grounds" for impeachment.

In 1999, more than 90 people died in the bombing of a Moscow apartment building. The blast was blamed on militants from the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

In 2003, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston and lawyers for about 550 victims of sexual abuse by priests reached an damages agreement that could run as high as $85 million.

In 2005, Michael Brown, embattled director of FEMA, roundly criticized for its slow response to Hurricane Katrina, was replaced as hurricane relief coordinator by U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen.

In 2008, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was ousted for moonlighting as a paid performer on a TV cooking show.

In 2010, a federal judge in California ruled that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy preventing homosexuals from serving openly in the U.S. armed services was unconstitutional.

In 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Russian leaders in Vladivostok their support of the government of Syria, which has been torn by a civil war for a year and a half, is an affront to Washington.

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A thought for the day: "A country's competitiveness starts not on the factory floor or in the engineering lab. It starts in the classroom." -- former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca.

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