The almanac

Today is Friday, April 6, the 97th day of 2012 with 269 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Italian painter Raphael in 1483; newspaper editor Joseph Medill in 1823; journalist Lincoln Steffens in 1866; actor Walter Huston in 1884; radio commentator Lowell Thomas in 1892; baseball Hall of Fame member Gordon "Mickey" Cochrane in 1903; geneticist James Watson in 1928 (age 84); musician Andre Previn in 1929 (age 83); country singer Merle Haggard and actor Billy Dee Williams, both in 1937 (age 75); drag racing legend Don "The Snake" Prudhomme in 1941 (age 71); producer/director Barry Levinson in 1942 (age 70); Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in 1963 (age 49); and actors John Ratzenberger in 1947 (age 65), Marilu Henner in 1952 (age 60); Zach Braff in 1975 (age 37) and Candace Cameron Bure in 1976 (age 36).

On this date in history:

In 1814, Napoleon was exiled to Elba.

In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints was founded in a log cabin in Fayette, N.Y.

In 1851, Portland, Ore., was founded.

In 1868, Mormon Church leader Brigham Young married his 27th, and last, wife.

In 1896, the first modern Olympics formally opened at Athens, Greece. The Olympics had last been staged 1,500 years earlier.

In 1909, Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson reached the North Pole.

In 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, propelling America into World War I.

In 1931, nine black youths accused of raping two white women went on trial in Scottsboro, Ala. All were convicted in a hasty trial but by 1950 were free by parole, appeal or escape.

In 1938, Du Pont researchers Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok created the chemical compound that was later marketed as Teflon.

In 1947, the first Tony Awards, honoring distinguished work in the theater, were presented in New York City.

In 1968, federal troops and National Guardsmen were deployed in Chicago, Washington and Detroit, as rioting continued over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1973, American League baseball teams used a designated hitter for first time.

In 1991, Iraq's Parliament accepted a permanent cease-fire in the Gulf War.

In 1992, science fiction patriarch Isaac Asimov, 72, died after a lengthy illness.

In 1994, the presidents of the African nations of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a plane crash in Kigali. The incident triggered bloody fighting between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that left hundreds of thousands of people dead.

Also in 1994, Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who had served on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1970, announced his retirement.

In 1996, rioting broke out in Liberia following the arrest of factional leader Roosevelt Johnson on murder charges.

In 1998, U.S. health officials announced that tamoxifen, a synthetic hormone, prevented breast cancer in women at high risk.

In 2001, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted an Algerian man on charges stemming from his arrest at the U.S.-Canadian border in December 1999. Prosecutors said Ahmen Ressam was planning to set off explosions during the millennium celebrations.

In 2003, U.N. officials said they had reports that at least 966 people had been killed three days earlier in a dozen Congolese villages in an area rich in minerals.

In 2004 sports, the University of Connecticut became the first school to win both the NCAA Division I men's and women's college basketball championships the same year.

In 2005, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, one of Europe's longest-reigning monarchs, died from multiple organ failure at the age of 81. He was succeeded by Prince Albert, one of three children he had with his wife, U.S. movie star Grace Kelly.

In 2006, a translation of the so-called Gospel of Judas was released 18 centuries after it was written and 30 years after its discovery in Egypt.

In 2007, a U.N.-sponsored scientific panel endorsed by 120 countries warned of dire consequences unless worldwide buildup in greenhouse gases is cut back and predicted the possibility of 50 million environmental refugees by 2010.

In 2008, American Airlines grounded all 300 of its MD-80 jetliners after an FAA review found faulty wiring in nine of them. Over the next five days, American canceled some 3,300 flights, disrupting travel of more than 100,000 passengers.

In 2009, a powerful earthquake struck central Italy's Abruzzo region, killing more than 200 people and smashing the city of L'Aquila. Officials said the 6.3-magnitude quake, followed by more than 400 aftershocks, left about 55,000 homeless and damaged historic buildings in the area.

Also in 2009, Japan, the world's second largest economy, said it would spend nearly $100 billion in stimulus measures to bolster a faltering economic system.

In 2011, more than 130 people were reported missing after a boat carrying refugees from Libya sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Also in 2011, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill saying the state will acknowledge same-sex marriages in other states as domestic partnerships.

A thought for the day: Mahatma Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."