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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Saturday, Oct. 19, the 292nd day of 2013 with 73 to follow.

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

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Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include English physician and scholar Thomas Browne in 1605; abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay in 1810; motion picture pioneer Louis Lumiere in 1862; baseball Hall of Fame member Mordecai Brown in 1876; historian and city planner Lewis Mumford in 1895; actor LaWanda Page in 1920; newspaper columnist Jack Anderson in 1922; English spy novelist John Le Carre, born David Cornwell, in 1931 (age 82); pop artist Peter Max in 1937 (age 76); actor Michael Gambon in 1940 (age 73); actor John Lithgow, feminist Patricia Ireland and singer Jeannie C. Riley, all in 1945 (age 68); British writer Philip Pullman in 1946 (age 67); U.S. political figure Grover Norquist in 1956 (age 57); singer Jennifer Holliday in 1960 (age 53); former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 1962 (age 51); television personality Ty Pennington in 1965 (age 48); film director Jon Favreau in 1966 (age 47); and Amy Carter, daughter of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in 1967 (age 46).

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On this date in history:

In 1781, Britain's Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered with more than 7,000 troops to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va., effectively ending the American War of Independence.

In 1789, John Jay was sworn in as first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

In 1812, Napoleon's beaten French army began its long, disastrous retreat from Moscow.

In 1982, carmaker John DeLorean was arrested in Los Angeles and charged in a $24 million cocaine scheme aimed at salvaging his bankrupt sports car company. He was tried and acquitted.

In 1987, the New York stock market suffered its biggest setback, with the Dow Jones industrial average diving 508 points in one session.

In 1994, more than 20 people were killed in a terrorist bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel.

In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent as he went on trial in Baghdad on charges of murder and torture during his reign as president of Iraq.

In 2008, two weeks before Election Day, Colin Powell, a Republican and former secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president.

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In 2009, the U.S. government announced it will no longer prosecute people who use or sell marijuana for medicinal purposes if they are complying with state laws.

In 2012, Big Tex, the 52-foot statue that welcomed visitors to the Texas State Fair for 60 years, burned to the ground. Authorities said the fire apparently was caused by an electrical short in Tex's motorized boot.


A thought for the day: "Youngsters of Little League can survive under-coaching a lot better than over-coaching." -- baseball Hall of Fame member Willie Mays.

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