The almanac

Today is Sunday, Nov. 23, the 328th day of 2008 with 38 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States, in 1804; U.S. outlaw Billy "The Kid" Bonney in 1859; Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco in 1883; actor Boris Karloff in 1887; Romain de Tirtoff, the fashion designer and artist known as Erte, in 1892; comic actor Harpo (Adolph Arthur) Marx of the Marx Brothers in 1888; and actress Susan Anspach in 1939 (age 69).

On this date in history:

In 1889, the first jukebox was placed in service in the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco.

In 1890, the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was separated from the Netherlands.

In 1919, the first play-by-play football game radio broadcast in the United States took place during a game in which Texas A&M blanked the University of Texas 7-0.

In 1936, Life magazine made its debut.

In 1943, the U.S. Marines took control of the Gilbert Islands from Japanese forces following a fierce 76-hour battle.

In 1945, World War II rationing ended in the United States on all foods except sugar.

In 1954, China announced it had convicted 11 U.S. airmen and two civilians of espionage.

In 1980, an earthquake in Naples, Italy, killed 4,800 people.

In 1991, Serbian, Croatian and Yugoslav leaders signed a U.N.-mediated cease-fire accord. It didn't last.

In 1992, the United States lowered its flag over the last U.S. base in the Philippines, ending nearly a century of military presence in its former colony.

Also in 1992, country music legend Roy Acuff, who rode the "Wabash Cannonball" to fame and fortune, died of congestive heart failure at age 89.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed legislation repealing U.S. sanctions against South Africa.

In 1996, a hijacker forced an Ethiopian jetliner to fly until it ran out of fuel. The aircraft crashed into the sea.

In 1997, Britain's Prince Charles appointed former British Prime Minister John Major as the legal and financial protector of Princes William and Harry. Princess Diana, the boys' mother, had been killed in a car accident almost three months earlier.

In 2001, Israelis killed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abu Hudnud, head of the extremist group Hamas, in a helicopter attack in Jerusalem.

In 2002, the Bush administration eased anti-pollution regulations that required older coal-fired refineries to upgrade facilities with modern clean air equipment in an effort to spur expanded construction of power plants.

In 2003, an early morning dormitory fire at a Moscow university killed at least 18 students and injured 80 others.

In 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office agreed to investigate allegations of irregularities in the Nov. 2 presidential election. The House Judiciary Committee reportedly received 57,000 election complaints.

Also in 2004, in the disputed Ukraine election, the day after opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner election officials declared that the Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was the real winner.

In 2005, John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned the United Nations that unless steps were taken to stay relevant and rid itself of corruption and incompetence, the United States is likely to begin bypassing the organization.

In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy who defected to Britain, died in a London hospital, three weeks after his alleged poisoning. Friends and others blamed the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin.

Also in 2006, the last of 23 coal miners killed in an underground gas explosion at Ruda Slaska, Poland, was removed by rescue workers.

In 2007, more than 150 passengers and crew from the cruise ship Explorer escaped injury after their vessel hit an iceberg off Antarctica and sank a few hours later. Confident they would soon be rescued, as, in fact, they were, some passengers were reported floating in lifeboats in an icy sea telling Titanic jokes.

A thought for the day: there's a proverb that says, "Before you trust a man, eat a peck of salt with him."