The Almanac

Today is Friday, June 16, the 167th day of 2006 with 198 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include film comedian Stan Laurel in 1890; publisher Katharine Graham in 1917; authors Erich Segal in 1937 (age 69) and Joyce Carol Oates in 1938 (age 68); actress Joan Van Ark in 1946 (age 60); boxer Roberto Duran in 1951 (age 55); and actress Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne") in 1955 (age 51).

On this date in history:

In 1883, the New York Giants had the first Ladies' Day baseball game.

In 1904, James Joyce met his future wife, Nora, for the second time and fell in love. He later chose the date as the single-day setting for his novel, "Ulysses."

In 1917, the first Congress of Soviets was convened in Russia.

In 1958, the leader of the unsuccessful Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule, former Premier Imre Nagy, was executed.

In 1977, Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, was elected president of the Supreme Soviet, thereby becoming both head of party and head of state.

In 1963, the Soviet Union put the first woman into space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.

In 1986, South African blacks marked the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising with a one-day strike. Eleven blacks were killed in the resulting violence.

In 1987, the last surviving dusky seaside sparrow died at Walt Disney World.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin met at the White House for the first U.S.-Russian summit.

Also in 1992, former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger was indicted on five felony counts of lying to Congress and investigators in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose a worldwide ban on oil shipments to Haiti.

In 1998, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic indicated a willingness to resume peace talks with ethnic Albanian leaders about the rebellious Serbian province of Kosovo.

In 1999, U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 2002, Tiger Woods won his second U.S. Open championship.

In 2003, the militant Palestinian group Hamas reportedly was ready to agree to a cease-fire with Israelis.

In 2004, the U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks said Iraq played no role in the attacks and the CIA knew of a plot in June.

In 2005, the U.S. Army awarded the first Silver Star for bravery in combat to a female soldier in the Iraq war, Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, 23, of Bowling Green, Ky.

A thought for the day: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" comes from "Hamlet." And the line about a bank being "a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it" comes from Bob Hope.