The almanac

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2011 with 45 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Tiberius, emperor of Rome, in 42 B.C.; composer W.C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues," in 1873; Broadway director and playwright George S. Kaufman in 1889; jazz guitarist and bandleader Eddie Condon in 1905; actors Burgess Meredith in 1907, Clu Gulager in 1928 (age 83); Donna McKechnie in 1940 (age 71); Marg Helgenberger in 1958 (age 53) and Lisa Bonet in 1967 (age 44); singer Diana Krall in 1964 (age 47); and Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in 1977 (age 34).

On this date in history:

In 1892, the University of Chicago, a founding member of the Big 10 Conference, won its first football game, beating Illinois, 10-4.

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the union.

In 1933, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

In 1984, the space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth with the first two satellites ever plucked from space.

In 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter were shot to death at their residence in San Salvador. Three years later, in 1991, U.S. House of Representatives Democrats reported that Salvadoran Defense Minister Gen. Rene Ponce had planned the killings.

In 1990, the Soviet Union indicated its approval of the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

In 1997, 85 percent of voters in Hungary cast ballots in favor of joining NATO.

In 2001, a letter containing anthrax was found at the Capitol in Washington, addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Also in 2001, U.S. officials said a bomb had killed Muhammad Atef, one of Osama bin Laden's closest strategists who was believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks.

In 2004, Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped Iraqi CARE director, was believed to have been killed after al-Jazeera television received a video of a woman's slaying.

In 2005, a secret U.S. government document is said to confirm reports that oil company executives met with White House officials when the Bush administration was fashioning its 2001 energy policy.

In 2006, Turkey severed military ties with France over a century-old dispute involving the deaths of some 1.2 million Armenians.

In 2007, the United Nations warned global warming of 1-3 degrees Celsius would lead to a rise in sea levels that would swallow up island nations, decimate one-quarter or more of the world's species, cause famine in Africa and spark increasingly violent hurricanes.

In 2008, after nearly a year of negotiations with the United States, the Iraqi Cabinet agreed to withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by Dec. 31, 2011.

Also in 2008, at least 23 workers were feared dead after a bridge being built collapsed in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.

In 2009, on a four-day stopover in Beijing, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao discussed such key issues as human rights, climate change, trade, Iran and denuclearization of North Korea.

Also in 2009, researchers in a new study recommended that women wait until age 50 to begin breast cancer screening with mammograms instead of age 40, unless there are certain risk factors such as family history.

In 2010, a U.S. House committee found Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., guilty of 11 counts of ethics violations and recommended the former Ways and Means chairman be censured for misconduct, the stiffest House penalty short of expulsion.

A thought for the day: it was Henry Kissinger who said, "History knows no resting places and no plateaus."