UPI Almanac for Friday, July 15, 2016

Today is Friday, July 15, the 197th day of 2016 with 169 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn in 1606; poet Clement Clarke Moore, author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("Twas the Night Before Christmas") in 1779; Roman Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be made a saint, in 1850; British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst in 1858; lyricist Dorothy Fields in 1905; country singer Cowboy Copas in 1913; Irish author Iris Murdoch in 1919; writer Clive Cussler in 1931 (age 85); actor/football star Alex Karras in 1935; actor Ken Kercheval in 1935 (age 81); actor Patrick Wayne in 1939 (age 77); actor Jan-Michael Vincent in 1944 (age 72); singer Linda Ronstadt in 1946 (age 70); political commentator Arianna Huffington in 1950 (age 66); former pro wrestler/Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1951 (age 65); actor Terry O'Quinn in 1952 (age 64); rock musician Marky Ramone in 1956 (age 60); supermodel Kim Alexis in 1960 (age 56); actor Willie Aames in 1960 (age 56); actor Lolita Davidovich in 1961 (age 55); actor Forest Whitaker in 1961 (age 55); actor Brigitte Nielsen in 1963 (age 53); actor Brian Austin Green in 1973 (age 43); actor Diane Kruger in 1976 (age 40).

On this date in history:

In 1799, the Rosetta Stone, which helped decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found in an Egyptian village by French soldiers.

In 1806, Zebulon Pike began an expedition to explore the American Southwest.

In 1912, the U.S. Olympic team, led by all-round athlete Jim Thorpe, took more medals than any other country at the Summer Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1945, Italy declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner.

In 1965, the unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passed over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sent the first close-up images of the planet to Earth.

In 1968, a Soviet Aeroflot jetliner landed at New York's JFK Airport, marking the beginning of direct commercial flights between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon disclosed plans to make an unprecedented visit to the People's Republic of China. He made the historic trip in February 1972.

In 1986, Britain and the Soviet Union settled accounts on $75 million in bonds that were issued under Russia's czars and defaulted on after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The settlement ended a 60-year financial dispute.

In 1992, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was nominated as the Democratic Party's candidate for president.

In 1997, Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death in front of his Miami mansion. The prime suspect was Andrew Cunanan, already wanted in four other slayings. He was found dead a week later, an apparent suicide.

In 2002, John Walker Lindh, a 21-year-old American captured by the U.S. military in Afghanistan while with Taliban forces, admitted he had fought as a soldier with them. After cooperating in the investigation of the terrorist network, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese agreed to a $600 million settlement with 508 people who said they had been sexually abused by members of the clergy.

In 2009, Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran bound for Armenia. Officials said 168 people were killed.

In 2010, BP, the London energy company, announced it had capped its crippled underwater well that sent millions of barrels of crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico over the previous three months after an offshore drilling rig explosion and fire killed 11 workers and unleashed an unchecked torrent from the depths.

In 2012, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the drought affecting 61 percent of the country should have only a "marginal impact on food prices."

In 2013, a bill permitting same-sex marriages was passed by Britain's House of Lords and would soon become law.

In 2014, a suicide car bomber killed at least 89 people and injured dozens of others at a market in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province.

A thought for the day: "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price." -- Warren Buffett