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The Almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Sunday, Nov. 14, the 319th day of 2004 with 47 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Robert Fulton, American inventor of the steamboat, in 1765; French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, in 1840; Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru in 1889; Erwin Rommel, the World War II German commander known as the "Desert Fox" for his cunning, in 1891; Mamie Doud Eisenhower, wife of President Eisenhower, in 1896; American composer Aaron Copland in 1900; singers Morton Downey in 1901 and Johnny Desmond in 1920; actor Dick Powell in 1904; Sen. Joseph McCarthy, D-Wis., in 1908; actress Veronica Lake in 1919; former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1922 (age 81); actors Brian Keith in 1921 and McLean Stevenson in 1929; astronaut Edward White, killed in the 1967 Apollo I launch pad fire, in 1930; King Hussein of Jordan in 1935; Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, in 1948 (age 56); New Age singer/songwriter Yanni in 1954 (age 50); and actress Laura San Giacomo ("Just Shoot Me") in 1962 (age 42).

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On this date in history:

In 1666, the first blood transfusion took place in London. Blood from one dog was transfused into another.

In 1832, the first horse-drawn streetcar made its appearance in New York City.

In 1889, newspaper reporter Nellie Bly set off to break the record of voyaging around the world in 80 days set by Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg. She beat Fogg's record, making the trip in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

In 1926, the NBC radio network made its debut.

In 1940, German planes bombed Coventry, England, destroying or damaging 69,000 buildings.

In 1972, for the first time in its 76-year history, the Dow Jones Industrial Stock Average closed above 1,000.

In 1984, former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon went to court in New York with a $50 million libel suit against Time Magazine. He lost after a two-month trial.

In 1986, the White House acknowledged the CIA role in secretly shipping weapons to Iran.

In 1988, the PLO proclaimed an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, endorsing a renunciation of terrorism and an implicit recognition of Israel.

In 1989, the Navy ordered a 48-hour "stand-down" for a safety review following 10 unrelated accidents resulting in 10 deaths during a three-week period.

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In 1990, a gunman in Dunedin, New Zealand, killed 11 neighbors, then was killed by police in the nation's worst mass slaying at that time. A 12th victim died later.

In 1991, U.S. and British officials accused two Libyan agents in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in which 270 people died.

Also in 1991, a former postal worker in Royal Oak, Mich., returned to work and killed four people before turning the gun on himself.

In 1993, in a referendum, residents of Puerto Rico voted in favor of continuing their U.S. commonwealth status.

In 1994, the 31-mile Chunnel Tunnel under the English Channel opened to passenger traffic.

In 1997, Sara Lister, an assistant secretary of the Army, resigned after apologizing for having spoken of the U.S. Marine Corps as "extremists."

In 2001, House and Senate negotiators working on ways to beef up airport security voted to have federal workers screen luggage.

In 2002, Iraq told the United Nations it accepts -- without condition or special requests -- the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad.

Also in 2002, The body of Mir Aimal Kasi, a Pakistani citizen convicted of killing two CIA employees in 1993, has been handed over to his brothers and will be flown to Pakistan. Kasi, 38, was executed amid warnings by the State Department of global retaliation against Americans.

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In 2003, an Alabama jury ordered Exxon Mobil to pay the state $11.8 billion in damages relating to gas royalties for offshore drilling projects. The jury also awarded compensatory damages of $63.6 million. The energy giant said it would appeal.


A thought for the day: Russian author Boris Pasternak wrote, "Life itself, the phenomenon of life, the gift of life, is so breathtakingly serious."

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