The Almanac

Today is Thursday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2005 with 114 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include England's King Richard I, "Richard the Lion Hearted," in 1157; composer Antonin Dvorak in 1841; stage and film director Max Reinhardt in 1873; country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman," in 1897; Florida Sen. Claude Pepper in 1900; comedian Sid Caesar and political activist Lyndon Larouche Jr., both in 1922 (age 83); actor Peter Sellers in 1925; country music singer Patsy Cline in 1932; former Sen. Sam Nunn in 1938 (age 67); and actors Henry Thomas ("E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial") in 1971 (age 34) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Home Improvement") in 1981 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1522, Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano returned to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe with an expedition that began under Ferdinand Magellan.

In 1565, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the continental United States was founded on the site of the present St. Augustine, Fla.

In 1900, more than 6,000 people were killed when a hurricane and tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas.

In 1935, an assassin shot autocratic Louisiana Sen. Huey P. Long at the Capitol building in Baton Rouge, La. Long died two days later.

Also in 1935, 19-year-old Frank Sinatra launched his singing career when he appeared with a group called The Hoboken Four on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio talent show.

In 1966, "Star Trek" premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1974, President Ford granted former President Nixon full pardon for any and all offenses he may have committed during his years in office.

In 1993, the Senate approved President Clinton's national-service bill, which would give participants grants for taking part in community service work.

In 1994, a U.S. Airways jetliner crashed near Pittsburgh, killing 132 people. The accident became the subject of the longest aircraft investigation in the history of the National Transportation Safety Board.

In 1998, the Justice Department opened a preliminary inquiry into President Clinton's participation in Democratic fundraising for the 1996 re-election campaign.

In 1999, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley returned to his hometown of Crystal City, Mo., to announce he was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 2002 sports, Pete Sampras won his fifth men's U.S. Open tennis championship with a four-set victory over Andre Agassi. Sampras retired the following year as the 2003 Open was about to begin.

In 2003, New York police beefed up subway security because of renewed fears about a possible gas or chemical assault.

Also in 2003, the U.S. music industry filed lawsuits against 261 people, accusing them of violating copyright laws by swapping online music files.

In 2004, CBS reported that newly discovered documents bolstered claims that President Bush failed to meet his responsibilities while a member of the Texas National Guard in the 1970s. But, serious doubts soon arose as to validity of the documents.

A thought for the day: in "Middlemarch," English novelist Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot) wrote, "... men know best about everything, except what women know better."