The almanac

Today is Wednesday, July 30, the 212th day of 2008 with 154 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include English novelist Emily Bronte in 1818; auto pioneer Henry Ford in 1863; baseball player/manager Casey Stengel in 1890; English sculptor Henry Moore in 1898; Baseball Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig in 1934 (age 74); film director Peter Bogdanovich in 1939 (age 69); singer Paul Anka in 1941 (age 67); California governor/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1947 (age 61); and actors Ken Olin in 1954 (age 54), Delta Burke in 1956 (age 52), Laurence Fishburne in 1961 (age 47), Lisa Kudrow in 1963 (age 45) and Hilary Swank in 1974 (age 34).

On this date in history:

In 1619, in Jamestown, Va., the first elected legislative assembly in the New World -- the House of Burgesses -- convened in the choir loft of the town's church.

In 1932, Walt Disney released his first color cartoon, "Flowers and Trees," made in three-color Technicolor.

In 1936, author Margaret Mitchell sold the film rights for "Gone With the Wind" to MGM for $50,000, most ever for a first novel.

In 1974, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, by a vote of 21-17, approved a third article of impeachment against U.S. President Richard Nixon, charging him with ignoring congressional subpoenas. Nixon resigned before the issue went to trial.

In 1975, former Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa was last seen outside a suburban Detroit restaurant. He was declared dead in 1982.

In 1976, Kate Smith made her last public appearance on this date, singing her signature number "God Bless America" on a TV program honoring the U.S. Bicentennial.

In 1991, a special U.N. commission to Iraq announced it had found 46,000 chemical shells and warheads and 3,000 tons of raw materials for weapons.

In 1994, the United States, Germany, Britain, France and Russia decided to tighten sanctions on the Serb-dominated government in what remained of Yugoslavia.

In 1995, negotiators for Russia and the breakaway republic of Chechnya agreed to stop fighting.

In 1997, suicide bombers detonated two bombs in an outdoor market in West Jerusalem, killing themselves and 13 other people.

In 1999, a Maryland grand jury indicted Linda Tripp for illegally taping her phone conversations with Monica Lewinsky.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II was present for the canonization of Pedro de San Jose Betanur of Guatemala, Central America's first saint, and Juan Diego of Mexico City, first American Indian saint.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush indicated he would favor a law or constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages. The Vatican also condemned gay unions.

In 2004, the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution demanding Sudan disarm within 30 days and prosecute those responsible for thousands of deaths in Darfur.

In 2005, British police said they arrested six men and one woman in the failed July 21 London subway bombings. That brought to 13 the number of suspects in custody in the apparent, unsuccessful attempt to match the July 7 attack that killed 56.

In 2006, an Israeli air raid leveled a building housing civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana, reportedly killing at least 65 people, mostly women and children. Israeli officials said the wrong building was hit.

In 2007, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts was reported hospitalized after suffering a seizure. A Supreme Court spokesman said Roberts had "fully recovered" by the next day.

Also in 2007, federal lawmen swept across the Alaska home of seven-term Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, allegedly looking for evidence in an ongoing bribery investigation involving a convicted oil field contractor.

A thought for the day: U.S. President U.S. Grant said, "Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately you occasionally find men disgrace labor."