The almanac

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2008 with 329 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include England's Queen Anne in 1665; statesman Aaron Burr in 1756; baseball great George Herman "Babe" Ruth in 1895; former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1911; actors Patrick MacNee in 1922 (age 86), Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1917 (age 91) and Rip Torn in 1931 (age 77); French film director Francois Truffaut in 1932; actors Mike Farrell in 1939 (age 69) and Michael Tucker in 1944 (age 64); television news anchorman Tom Brokaw in 1940 (age 68); handgun activist Sarah Brady in 1942 (age 66); singers Fabian Forte in 1943 (age 65) and Natalie Cole in 1950 (age 58); Jamaican reggae singer/songwriter Bob Marley in 1945; and actor/director Robert Townsend and actress Kathy Najimy, both in 1957 (age 51).

On this date in history:

In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander in chief of the armies of the Confederacy.

In 1943, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of Allied expeditionary forces in North Africa. He later became World War II Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

In 1952, Princess Elizabeth became sovereign of Great Britain upon the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.

In 1974, the Caribbean island of Grenada was declared independent and a member of the British Commonwealth.

In 1987, broad no-smoking rules took effect for 890,000 employees in 6,800 U.S. federal buildings nationwide.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush authorized the direct shipment of emergency medical supplies to the Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

In 1992, a military transport plane crashed into a restaurant and hotel in Evansville, Ind., killing 16 people.

In 1993, U.N Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali asked NATO for authority to order airstrikes against Serb artillery positions in Bosnia.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton sent Congress a $1.69 trillion budget he said would put the country on course for a balanced budget by 2002.

Also in 1997, the head of Mexico's leading anti-drug agency was forced to resign after evidence emerged that he took bribes from a drug cartel.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he would never consider resigning because of allegations that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel.

In 2003, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved deployment of the 101st Airborne Division and the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk to the Persian Gulf region.

In 2004, a female suicide bomber detonated explosives in a suitcase on a Moscow subway car killing 39 people and injuring about 200.

In 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that decisions must be made to promote peace and encourage a Palestinian state.

Also in 2005, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney rejected demands from Iraq's Sunni leaders that a timetable be set for the withdrawal of the 150,000 U.S. troops.

And in 2005 sports, the New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four years, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21.

In 2006, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress the President George Bush was within his legal rights when he authorized warrantless surveillance of people in the United States by the National Security Agency.

In 2007, an almost solid Republican front blocked U.S. Senate debate on a bipartisan resolution opposing the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq.

A thought for the day: it was U.S. President Ronald Reagan who said, "You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit."