UPI Almanac for Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Today is Wednesday, May 25, the 146th day of 2016 with 220 to follow.

This is Memorial Day in the United States.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include poet/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803; YMCA leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Mott in 1865; dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in 1878; aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky in 1889; Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito in 1892; heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney in 1897; humorist and publisher Bennett Cerf in 1898; songwriter Hal David in 1921; actor Claude Akins in 1926; spy novelist Robert Ludlum in 1927; opera singer Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman) in 1929; basketball Hall of Fame member K.C. Jones in 1932 (age 84); Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella in 1935 (age 81); actor Dixie Carter in 1939; actor Ian McKellen in 1939 (age 77); singer/actor Leslie Uggams in 1943 (age 73); singer Jessi Colter in 1943 (age 73); Frank Oz (born Richard Frank Oznowicz), director/actor/puppeteer, in 1944 (age 72); actor Karen Valentine in 1947 (age 69); actor Connie Sellecca in 1955 (age 61); comedian/actor Mike Myers in 1963 (age 53); actor Anne Heche in 1969 (age 47); actor Cillian Murphy in 1976 (age 40); former professional football player Brian Urlacher in 1978 (age 38).

On this date in history:

In 1787, with George Washington presiding, the first regular session of the Constitutional Convention, which drew up the Constitution of the United States, convened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

In 1878, "H.M.S. Pinafore," an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan, opened in London.

In 1925, John Scopes was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in a Tennessee high school, leading to a trial that became a media sensation. Scopes was convicted and fined $100; the conviction was later overturned.

In 1935, winding up his legendary career (with the Boston Braves in his last season), Babe Ruth, hit his 714th home run in his final game. The record stood for 39 years until Hank Aaron, also with the Braves, although in Atlanta, broke it in 1974. Aaron went on to hit 755 homers and current record-holder Barry Bonds had 762.

In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy told a joint session of Congress of the plan to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

In 1977, the first installment of George Lucas' "Star Wars" film series was released.

In 1979, the crash of an American Airlines DC-10 on takeoff from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport killed 275 people.

In 1986, 5 million people formed a broken 4,000-mile human chain from Los Angeles to New York in "Hands Across America," to benefit the nation's homeless. The event raised $24.5 million.

In 1994, after living 20 years in exile, mostly in the United States, Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to his homeland. He had been expelled after "The Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison camp system, was published in the West in 1974.

In 1997, mutinous soldiers seized power in Sierra Leone.

In 2006, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, former officers of Enron Corp., were convicted in Houston federal court of conspiracy and securities fraud.

In 2008, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a smooth landing on Mars, completing a nine-month, 422-million-mile journey, setting down in the planet's frigid polar region where scientists hoped to find water.

In 2009, despite international warnings, North Korea reported it had launched a second nuclear missile test, with officials saying they were only boosting self-defense capabilities.

In 2011, The Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast its final original episode after 25 years on the air.

In 2012, private space company SpaceX's Dragon capsule became the first commercial cargo vessel to visit the International Space Station.

In 2013, amid tight security, about 3,000 people who had been in the Boston Marathon April 15 when bombs killed three people and injured scores of others returned to complete the final mile. One runner said the event, called OneRun, was "a great way to show the strength of Boston and the camaraderie in our city."

In 2014, President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, telling them: "More Afghans have hope in their future and so much of that is because of you."

A thought for the day: "When men reach their 60s and retire, they go to pieces. Women just go right on cooking." -- Gail Sheehy