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The Almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2005 with 74 to follow.

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

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Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include novelist Fannie Hurst in 1889; former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1919; former Sen. Jesse Helms. R-N.C., in 1921 (age 84); Greek actress Melina Mercouri in 1925; rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry in 1926 (age 79); actors George C. Scott in 1927 and Peter Boyle in 1933 (age 72); Lee Harvey Oswald, assumed assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in 1939; former pro football star and coach Mike Ditka in 1939 (age 66); actor Joe Morton in 1947 (age 58); actress Pam Dawber in 1951 (age 54); actor Jean-Claude Van Damme in 1960 (age 45); and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and actress Erin Moran ("Happy Days"), both in 1961 (age 44).

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On this date in history:

In 1776, the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania was finally settled. Dubbed the "Mason-Dixon" line, it became the unofficial boundary between North and South.

In 1898, the United States took control of Puerto Rico only one year after Spain had granted self-rule to the Caribbean nation.

In 1922, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, was established.

In 1931, Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, died in West Orange, N.J., at the age of 84.

In 1959, the Soviet Union announced an unmanned space vehicle had taken the first pictures of the far side of the moon.

In 1974, the jury in the Watergate cover-up trial heard a tape recording in which President Nixon told aide John Dean to try to stop the Watergate burglary investigation before it implicated White House personnel.

In 1984, President Reagan ordered an investigation of a CIA handbook for Nicaraguan rebels that suggested assassination as a political tactic.

In 1990, Iraq, pinched by economic sanctions, offered to sell oil to anyone at half the going price.

In 1991, Israel and the Soviet Union agreed to renew full diplomatic relations for the first time since 1967.

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Also in 1991, the United States and Soviet Union formally invited Israeli and Arab leaders to a conference in Spain to initiate direct bilateral peace talks.

In 1992, numerous civilians were killed or wounded when Serbian forces unleashed a citywide artillery barrage on Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1996, the Democratic National Committee halted fundraising efforts by finance vice chairman John Huang and returned a contribution from a South Korean business group. Huang also solicited contributions from wealthy Indonesians, one of whom reportedly bragged about his influence in Washington.

In 2001, as anthrax incidents continued, FBI Director Robert Mueller announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for sending anthrax-laden mail which he called a terrorist act.

In 2002, North Korea revealed it was working on a secret nuclear weapons program and U.S. intelligence officials concluded that Pakistan was a major supplier of critical equipment for it.

Also in 2002, Continental Airlines fired a pilot who federal officials say tested positive for alcohol after he was removed from a flight awaiting takeoff in Houston.

In 2003, a published report said British authorities foiled a plot to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Also in 2003, although homemaking guru Martha Stewart faced trial on illegal stock trading, sales of her Everyday brand were described as "great."

In 2004, in perhaps the first concrete development in the 2008 presidential election campaign, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, younger brother of the president, said he was not running for the White House.

Also in 2004, exhumation orders were issued for 42 bodies in Sonthofen, Germany, where a hospital orderly admitted to giving lethal injections to 16 patients.


A thought for the day: French author George Sand (Mme. Amandine Aurore Lucile Dudevant) said, "Simplicity is the essence of the great, the true and the beautiful in art."

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