The almanac

Today is Saturday, June 16, the 168th day of 2012 with 198 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Scottish economist Adam Smith in 1723; Scottish golf legend Old Tom Morris in 1821; American Indian leader Geronimo in 1829; British film comedian Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy) in 1890; newspaper publisher Katharine Graham in 1917; authors Erich Segal in 1937 and Joyce Carol Oates in 1938 (age 73); country singer Billy Crash Craddock in 1939 (age 72); actor Joan Van Ark in 1943 (age 69); boxer Roberto Duran in 1951 (age 61); singer-songwriter Gino Vannelli in 1952 (age 60); actor Laurie Metcalf in 1955 (age 57); professional golfer Phil Mickelson in 1970 (age 42); and rapper Tupac Shakur in 1971.

On this date in history:

In 1883, the New York Giants had the first Ladies' Day baseball game.

In 1917, the first Congress of Soviets was convened in Russia.

In 1958, the leader of the unsuccessful Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule, former Premier Imre Nagy, was executed.

In 1963, the Soviet Union put the first woman into space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.

In 1977, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, was elected president of the Supreme Soviet, thereby becoming both head of party and head of state.

In 1986, South African blacks marked the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprising with a 1-day strike. Eleven blacks were killed in the resulting violence.

In 1987, the last dusky seaside sparrow died at Walt Disney World.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin met at the White House for the first U.S.-Russian summit.

Also in 1992, former U.S. Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger was indicted on five felony counts of lying to Congress and investigators in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 1999, U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 2004, the U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks said Iraq played no role in the attacks and the CIA knew of a plot in June.

In 2005, the U.S. Army awarded the first Silver Star for bravery in combat to a female soldier in the Iraq war, Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, 23, of Bowling Green, Ky.

In 2007, the bodies of 13 members of the Iraqi Olympic tae kwon do martial arts team were found near Ramadi, over a year after the athletes were abducted while driving to a Jordan training camp.

In 2008, one month after the California Supreme Court struck down laws prohibiting same-sex marriage, couples flooded into city halls all over the state to get married. California was the second state, behind Massachusetts, to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2009, U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., acknowledged a 9-month extramarital affair with a former staff member. He resigned his chairmanship of the Republican Policy Committee but remained in the Senate.

Also in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order granting some healthcare benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.

In 2010, BP, the British oil giant battling the worst oil spill in U.S. history at the rapidly spreading Gulf of Mexico site, and pay damages for those hit by a sharp income decline because of the runaway gusher.

In 2011, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., announced he would resign after admitting he sent sexually suggestive photos on online social networks Facebook and Twitter. He left office the following week.

Also in 2011, angry fans, enraged when their Vancouver Canucks lost the National Hockey League championship to Boston, surged through downtown after the game, looting stores, burning cars and battling police and each other.

A thought for the day: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" comes from "Hamlet." And the line about a bank being "a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it" comes from Bob Hope.