Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Friday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2005 with 183 to follow. The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Pluto. Advertisement Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include German philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz in 1646; French novelist George Sand, a pseudonym for Amandine Dupin, in 1804; pioneer aviator Louis Bleriot in 1872; actor Frank Morgan in 1890; actor Charles Laughton in 1899; blues, gospel musician, composer Thomas Dorsey also in 1899; film director William Wyler in 1902; cosmetics executive Estee Lauder in 1908; blues musician Willie Dixon in 1915; actresses Olivia de Havilland in 1916 (age 89) and Leslie Caron in 1931 (age 74); filmmaker Sydney Pollack and actress/writer Jean Marsh, both in 1934 (age 71); actor Jamie Farr in 1936 (age 69); choreographer Twyla Tharp in 1941 (age 64); actresses Karen Black and Genevieve Bujold, both in 1942 (age 63); singer Deborah Harry in 1945 (age 60); actor/comedian Dan Aykroyd in 1952 (age 63); Britain's Princess Diana in 1961; and actors Andre Braugher in 1962 (age 43), Pamela Anderson Lee in 1967 (age 38) and Liv Tyler in 1977 (age 28). Advertisement On this date in history: In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamps were issued. In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in Pittsfield, Mass. Amherst beat Williams, 66-32. In 1867, Canada was granted its independence by Great Britain. It consisted at the time of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and future provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first U.S. zoo, opened to the public. In 1893, President Cleveland underwent secret surgery to remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. The operation did not become public knowledge until a newspaper article about it was published on Sept. 22, 1917 -- nine years after Cleveland's death. In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led the charge up Cuba's heavily fortified San Juan Hill in a key Spanish-American War battle. In 1916, in the worst single day of casualties in British military history, 20,000 soldiers were killed, 40,000 wounded in a massive offense against German forces in France's Somme River region during World War I. In 1932, the Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president. FDR eventually was elected to four consecutive terms. In 1941, NBC broadcast the first FCC-sanctioned TV commercial, a spot for Bulova watches shown during a Dodgers-Phillies game. It cost Bulova all of $9. Advertisement In 1946, the United States conducted its first post-war test of the atomic bomb, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, known as the Soundabout, in U.S. stores. It sold for about $200. In 1990, the West and East German economies were united as the deutsche mark replaced the ost mark as currency in East Germany. In 1991, the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist. In 1992, a gunman opened fire in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom, killing two lawyers and wounding three other people. He later surrendered at a TV station. In 1993, Congress completed action on an economic stimulus bill that fell far short of what President Clinton wanted. Also in 1993, President Clinton unveiled a plan for logging in federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest that would also protect the northern spotted owl. In 1994, the U.N. Security Council authorized a commission to investigate "acts of genocide" in Rwanda. In 1995, legendary radio disk jockey Wolfman Jack, born Robert Smith, died. In 1996, a dozen members of a paramilitary organization were arrested in Arizona and charged with plotting to bomb government buildings. In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after 99 years as a British territory. Advertisement In 2002, cannon fire and bombs from a U.S. Air Force AC-130 struck a town in southern Afghanistan, killing about 50 people, including members of a wedding party. U.S. officials said the plane had been fired on. Also in 2002, in a rare high-altitude accident, a passenger airliner collided with a cargo plane over Germany, killing all 71 aboard the planes. In 2003, President Bush blamed rogue elements for the daily attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and claimed coalition forces were making steady progress in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also in 2003, a young woman accused pro basketball star Kobe Bryant of sexual assault at a Colorado lodge. In 2004, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, looking tired and shaky, appeared before a special tribunal in Baghdad for the first time to face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. Also in 2004, dynamic Hollywood legend Marlon Brando died of lung failure. He was 80. A thought for the day: H.L. Mencken wrote that "It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull."
