The Almanac

Today is Friday, Nov. 4, the 308th day of 2005 with 57 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British King William III, known as William of Orange, in 1650; humorist Will Rogers in 1879; reporter Walter Cronkite in 1916 (age 89); actors Art Carney in 1918, Martin Balsam in 1919 and Loretta Swit in 1937 (age 68); first lady Laura Bush and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1946 (59); actors Markie Post in 1950 (age 55), Ralph Macchio ("The Karate Kid") in 1962 (age 43), and Matthew McConaughey in 1969 (age 36); singer/actor/songwriter Sean "Puffy" Combs in 1971 (age 34).

On this date in history:

In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of ancient Egypt's child-king, Tutankhamen.

In 1952, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president, ending 20 years of Democratic administrations.

In 1956, Soviet forces entered Budapest to crush the anti-communist revolt in Hungary.

In 1979, Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking some 90 people hostage, 63 of them Americans.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected 40th president in a landslide victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter.

In 1986, Democrats regained control of the U.S. Senate, 55-45.

In 1990, renowned singer/actress Mary Martin died at age 76.

In 1991, Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, returned home, ending more than five years of exile in United States.

In 1993, Canadian Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien was sworn in as prime minister.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to withdraw the remaining 17,000 U.N. troops from Somalia by mid-March 1995.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, 73, was assassinated by a Jewish extremist following a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

In 1997, Republicans swept the off-year U.S. elections.

In 2001, intense bombing by U.S.-led forces pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on a tour of the region, told reporters in Uzbekistan that strikes on Taliban targets were showing "measurable progress."

And in 2001 sports, the underdog Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees, 3-2, in the seventh game of the World Series to win the 4-year-old expansion team's first championship and spoil the Yankees' bid for four straight.

In 2002, the State Department warned Americans in the Middle East to be on guard for future terrorist attacks.

Also in 2002, Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston made his most candid apology for assigning sexually abusive priests to parishes where they continued to have access to children. For the first time, Law acknowledged that had he acted differently, some children might not have been sexually abused by priests.

In 2003, the elevation of a gay Episcopal priest to bishop prompted worldwide opposition, including a remark from a Kenyan cleric: "The Devil has clearly entered our church."

In 2004, medical sources in Paris confirmed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was brain dead. However, doctors denied they had removed Arafat from life support.

Also in 2004, U.S. Army reservists and guardsmen in Iraq said they saw looters make off with truckload of explosives from al-Qaqaa after the fall of Baghdad.

A thought for the day: humorist Will Rogers said, "My forefathers didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat."