The almanac

Today is Saturday, June 2, the 154th day of 2012 with 212 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Martha Washington, the first U.S. first lady, in 1731; French writer Marquis de Sade in 1740; English novelist Thomas Hardy in 1840; English composer Edward Elgar ("Pomp and Circumstance") in 1857; Olympic gold-medal swimmer and "Tarzan" movie star Johnny Weissmuller in 1904; actor-composer Max Showalter in 1917; Hall of fame football executive Tex Schramm in 1920; astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad of Apollo 12 in 1930; actor Sally Kellerman in 1937 (age 75); drummer Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones in 1941 (age 71); actors Stacy Keach also in 1941 (age 71) and Charles Haid in 1943 (age 69); composer/pianist Marvin Hamlisch in 1944 (age 68); actor Jerry Mathers ("Leave It To Beaver ") in 1948 (age 64); political commentator Frank Rich in 1949 (age 63); NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in 1952 (age 60); comedians Dana Carvey in 1955 (age 57) and Wayne Brady in 1972 (age 40); actor Justin Long in 1978 (age 34); and soccer players Abby Wambach in 1980 (age 32) and Freddy Adu in 1989 (age 23).

On this date in history:

In 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate armies of eastern Virginia and North Carolina in the Civil War.

In 1865, the Civil War came to an end when Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators.

In 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, 49, married Frances Folsom, the 21-year-old daughter of his former law partner, in a White House ceremony. The bride became the youngest first lady in U.S. history.

In 1924, Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians.

In 1946, in a national referendum, voters in Italy decided the country should become a republic rather than return to a monarchy.

In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in London's Westminster Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II returned home to Poland in the first visit by a pope to a communist nation.

In 1992, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination as six states had the final primaries of the 1992 political season.

In 1995, a U.S. F-16 fighter-jet was shot down by a Serb-launched missile while on patrol over Bosnia. The pilot, Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady, ejected safely and landed behind Serb lines. He was rescued six days later.

Also in 1995, Bosnian Serbs began releasing the 370 U.N. peacekeepers held hostage.

In 1997, a federal jury in Denver convicted Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. He was sentenced to death and executed June 11, 2001.

In 1999, in parliamentary elections, South African voters kept the African National Congress in power, assuring that its leader, Thabo Mbeki, would succeed the retiring Nelson Mandela as president.

In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to eliminate a rule barring a media company from owning both a TV station and a newspaper in the same U.S. market.

Also in 2003, U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said in a report that inspectors before the war had been unable to prove or disprove the presence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

In 2004, Ken Jennings won his first game on "Jeopardy!", starting a string that ended after a record 74 wins and more than $2.5 million in winnings.

In 2005, Israel freed 400 Palestinian prisoners in the second move of its kind since Mahmoud Abbas became Palestinian Authority president.

In 2007, a clash between demonstrators and police in Rockstock, Germany, ahead of the Group of Eight summit, left 146 officers injured and as many as 50 protesters in custody.

In 2008, a Texas judge signed an order for the immediate release of hundreds of children seized during a raid on a ranch owned by a polygamist sect. Parents promised not to interfere with the state's investigation into alleged child abuse and neglect.

In 2009, Pakistani soldiers rescued 71 students and nine staff members abducted by Taliban militants from a military-run college.

Also in 2009, Mauricio Funes, whose political party used to be a guerilla group, was sworn in as president of El Salvador.

In 2010, a 52-year-old British taxi driver was accused of a shooting rampage in which 13 people were slain and 11 others wounded before he killed himself. Media reports called it Britain's worst mass killing since 1996.

Also in 2010, more than half of U.S. voters favor Arizona's strict new immigration law, a poll indicated. The survey reported nearly as many want their state to follow suit.

In 2011, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney officially opened his campaign for the Republican nomination for president. He was the early front-runner.

Also in 2011, an early June report put a $700 million price tag on U.S. aircraft and missile NATO support aiding insurgents against Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi.

A thought for the day: Charles Eliot declared that, "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors and the most patient of teachers."