The Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2002 with 335 to follow.

The moon is waning, moving toward its last quarter.

The morning star is Mercury.

The evening stars are Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States, in 1882; historian Barbara Tuchman in 1912; comedian Dick Martin in 1923 (age 79); actress Dorothy Malone in 1925 (age 77); actor Gene Hackman in 1931 (age 71); Louis Rukeyser, host of television's "Wall Street Week," in 1933 (age 69); actors Tammy Grimes in 1936 (age 66) and Vanessa Redgrave in 1937 (age 65); Vice President Dick Cheney in 1941 (age 61); actor Charles Dutton in 1951 (age 51); singer/songwriter Phil Collins in 1951 (age 51); golfer Curtis Strange in 1955 (age 47); and comedian Brett Butler in 1958 (age 44).

On this date in history:

In 1649, English King Charles I was beheaded by order of Parliament.

In 1798, the first fight to break out on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives began when one congressman spat in another's face.

In 1835, a gunman fired twice on President Andrew Jackson, the first attempt on the life of a U.S. president. Jackson was not injured.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

In 1943, the British Royal Air Force bombed Berlin in a daylight raid timed to coincide with a speech by Joseph Goebbels in honor of Hitler's 10th year in power.

In 1948, Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.

In 1968, after calling for a cease-fire during the Tet holiday celebrations, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong attacked the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, temporarily occupying the U.S. Embassy.

In 1972, in what became known as "Bloody Sunday," 13 Roman Catholics were shot to death by British troops during a banned civil rights march in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

In 1979, the Iranian government announced it would let exiled Shiite Moslem leader Ayatollah Khomeini return from exile. Washington responded by ordering the evacuation of all American dependents from Iran.

In 1991, Iraqi armored forces charged out of Kuwait and engaged allied forces in Khafji, Saudi Arabia. 12 U.S. Marines were killed in the heaviest ground fighting of the Gulf War.

In 1993, parents donated portions of their own lungs to their daughter with cystic fibrosis in pioneering transplant surgery in Los Angeles.

In 1994, the Dallas Cowboys won its second straight Super Bowl -- a 30-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills, which saw its fourth straight Super Bowl loss.

In 1995, 42 people were killed when a car bomb exploded in Algiers, Algeria.

Also in 1995, the U.N. Security Council authorized deployment of 6,000 peacekeepers to Haiti. They would take over from U.S. troops.

In 1999, NATO ambassadors gave NATO the authority to attack military targets in Serbia if Yugoslav Pres. Slobodan Milosevic continued to violate the 1998 cease-fire negotiated with the rebels in Kosovo.

A thought for the day: Albert Camus said, "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."