The almanac

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

This is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

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

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; writer Poul Anderson in 1926; actors Ricardo Montalban and Noel Neill (age 90), both in 1920, Kathryn Crosby in 1933 (age 77), Ben stein in 1944 (age 66) and John Larroquette in 1947 (age 63); football hall of fame member Joe Gibbs in 1940 (age 70); singer Percy Sledge in 1941 (age 69); John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1960; singer Amy Grant in 1960 (age 50); and actors Billy Burke in 1966 (age 44), Jill Hennessy in 1969 (age 41) and Christina Applegate in 1971 (age 39); and former U.S. first daughters Barbara and Jenna Bush in 1981 (age 29).

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 1867, Alfred Nobel receives a patent for dynamite.

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.

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.

In 2009, Israeli Cabinet ministers approved a 10-month freeze on construction of settlements in the West Bank as proposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Also in 2009, the percentage of Americans believing global warming is occurring dropped from 80 percent to 72 percent in the past year, a Washington Post poll indicated.

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."