The almanac

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 25, the 329th day of 2009 with 36 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1835; pioneer German automobile designer Karl Benz in 1844; social reformer Carry Nation in 1846; Pope John XXIII in 1881; New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio in 1914; actors Ricardo Montalban in 1920; Kathryn Crosby in 1933 (age 76) and John Larroquette in 1947 (age 62); John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1960; singer Amy Grant in 1960 (age 49); and actresses Jill Hennessy in 1969 (age 40) and Christina Applegate in 1971 (age 38).

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On this date in history:

In 1783, more than 6,000 British troops evacuated New York City after signing the peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War.

In 1947, film industry executives announced that 10 directors, producers and actors who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee would be fired or suspended.

In 1952, Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest running play, opened in London.

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas three days earlier, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1970, world-renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima committed suicide after failing to win public support for his often extreme political beliefs.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the national highway speed limit cut from 70 mph to 55 mph to save lives and gasoline.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced the resignation of national security adviser John Poindexter and the firing of Poindexter aide Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North in the aftermath of the secret, illegal Iran arms sale.

In 1987, Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, died in office of a heart attack at age 65.

In 1992, the Czechoslovakian Parliament voted to dissolve the country at the end of the year into separate Czech and Slovak states.

In 1997, Ron Carey, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, resigned amid questions about his management of union funds.

In 2001, hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived in Afghanistan near the southern city of Kandahar in the first major entry of U.S. ground troops in that country in the war on terrorism.

Meanwhile, around 400 Taliban captives revolted at a prison near Mazar-i-Sharif, overpowered guards and put up a fierce battle. U.S. planes were called in to bomb the prison.

Also in 2001, a Massachusetts biotechnology company announced it created the first human embryos by cloning.

In 2002, warrants were issued in Los Angeles for the arrest of two former Roman Catholic priests on molestation charges, some allegations dating to the 1950s.

In 2003, a report by the United Nations and the World Health Organization said the infection and death rates of HIV/AIDS reached an all-time high.

In 2004, nine people, including three federal agents, were found dead at two locations near Mexico's resort town of Cancun, all believed slain by drug traffickers.

In 2006, citing a classified U.S. government report, The New York Times said the insurgency in Iraq was self-sustaining financially, raising up to $200 million a year from various sources.

In 2007, thousands were evacuated as a wildfire scorched nearly 5,000 acres and destroyed 49 homes in tinder-dry canyons in Malibu, Calif. It was Malibu's most destructive in 15 years.

Also in 2007, a caretaker government ruled Lebanon after parliament, for a fourth time, postponed a vote on a successor to President Emile Lahoud, whose term expired.

In 2008, the U.S. government says the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department will finance $800 billion in lending programs in another move designed to help the economy.

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A thought for the day: Andrew Carnegie wrote: "Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. The man who dies rich thus dies disgraced."