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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Tuesday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 20143 with 323 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Englishman Henry Fox Talbot, a developer of photography, in 1800; Chief Justice of the United States Melville Weston Fuller in 1833; inventor Thomas Edison in 1847; boxer Max Baer and film director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, both in 1909; author Sidney Sheldon in 1917; actor Eva Gabor in 1919; King Farouk, Egypt's last monarch, in 1920; actors Kim Stanley in 1925, Leslie Nielsen in 1926, Tina Louise in 1934 (age 80) and Burt Reynolds in 1936 (age 78); songwriter Gerry Goffin in 1939 (age 75); Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes in 1941 (age 73); Jeb Bush, former Florida governor and presidential son and brother, in 1953 (age 61); singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow in 1962 (age 52); former Alaska Gov. and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 1964 (age 50); actor Jennifer Aniston in 1969 (age 45); singer/actor Brandy (Norwood) in 1979 (age 35) and actor Taylor Lautner in 1992 (age 22).

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On this date in history:

In 1814, Norway claimed independence from the Kalmar Union.

In 1858, French peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous said the Virgin Mary appeared to her at Lourdes.

In 1929, Lateran Treaty signed with Italy recognizing the sovereignty of Vatican City.

In 1941, Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" was awarded the first gold record, given for sales of 1 million copies.

In 1945, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin ended a wartime conference at Yalta.

In 1965, U.S. and South Vietnamese planes made the first bombing raids on North Vietnam.

In 1970, Japan put a satellite in space, following the Soviet Union, the United States and France.

In 1987, Corazon Aquino was sworn in for a six-year presidential term in the Philippines.

In 1990, Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, was released after 27 years in prison.

In 1993, British Prime Minister John Major said Queen Elizabeth II will pay income tax on her personal income as well as being subject to capital and inheritance levies.

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In 1998, Olympic officials took away the gold medal of Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati after he tested positive for a minute amount of marijuana. He blamed second-hand smoke. (An arbitration panel restored his medal two days later.)

In 2005, playwright Arthur Miller, a fiery moralist whose plays include "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible," died at the age of 89.

In 2006, U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett broke the solo flight record when he landed near Bournemouth, England, covering 24,997 miles after taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida four days earlier.

In 2009, a long, bitter political fight in Zimbabwe apparently was resolved when President Robert Mugabe swore in opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.

In 2011, Hosni Mubarak stepped down after nearly 30 years as president of Egypt, bowing to intense public pressure to resign after 18 days of massive, often violent protests that spawned a reported death toll of more than 800 people. Mubarak, 82, ceded power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

In 2012, Whitney Houston, an American pop singing star who sold millions of albums and starred in movies, was found dead in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel room. The Los Angeles coroner said the 48-year-old entertainer died of accidental drowning in her bathtub but that cocaine and heart disease also played a role.

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In 2013, the Medal of Honor was awarded to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, who led an Alamo-like defense of an outpost against 300 Taliban attackers in Afghanistan.


A thought for the day: "If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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