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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Sunday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2012 with 44 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include King Louis XVIII of France in 1755; German astronomer and mathematician August Mobius in 1790; social reformer Grace Abbott in 1878; British army Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1887; drama teacher/actor Lee Strasberg in 1901; historian Shelby Foote in 1916; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; two-time Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bob Mathias in 1930; British comedian Peter Cook in 1937; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 75); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 71); model/actor Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 70); actor/director Danny DeVito, "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver and basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim, all in 1944 (age 69); U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 1949 (age 64); actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 55); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 53); U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice in 1964 (age 49); actors Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 47) and Rachel McAdams in 1978 (age 35); and writer Christopher Paolini in 1983 (age 30).

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On this date in history:

In 1800, the U.S. Congress convened in Washington for the first time.

In 1869, the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

In 1881, Samuel Gompers organized the forerunner of the American Federation of Labor.

In 1969, strategic arms limitation talks began between the United States and the Soviet Union in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1992, an appeals court in Washington ruled the Watergate tapes and Nixon presidential papers rightfully belonged to U.S. President Richard Nixon when he left office in 1974.

In 2003, accused Washington sniper John Muhammad was convicted of capital murder by a jury in Virginia Beach, Va., and sentenced to die. (He was executed Nov. 10, 2009.)

In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants, ending a 14-year moratorium on the devices.

In 2009, U.S. residents were almost evenly divided over efforts in Congress to reform the country's healthcare system with 48 percent for the changes and 49 percent against, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated.

In 2012, President Barack Obama left on a three-day Asian trip that would make him the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar. Other destinations included Cambodia and Thailand.

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A thought for the day: "The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence." -- Clark Gable

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