The almanac

Today is Friday, Oct. 19, the 293rd day of 2012 with 73 to follow.

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

Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include English physician and scholar Thomas Browne in 1605; abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay in 1810; baseball Hall of Fame member Mordecai Brown in 1876; historian and city planner Lewis Mumford in 1895; actor LaWanda Page in 1920; newspaper columnist Jack Anderson in 1922; English spy novelist John Le Carre, born David Cornwell, in 1931 (age 81); pop artist Peter Max in 1937 (age 75); actor Michael Gambon in 1940 (age 72); actor John Lithgow, feminist Patricia Ireland and singer Jeannie C. Riley, all in 1945 (age 67); British writer Philip Pullman in 1946 (age 66); U.S. political figure Grover Norquist in 1956 (age 56); singer Jennifer Holliday in 1960 (age 52); former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 1962 (age 50); television personality Ty Pennington in 1965 (age 47); film director Jon Favreau in 1966 (age 46); and Amy Carter, daughter of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in 1967 (age 45).

On this date in history:

In 1781, Britain's Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered with more than 7,000 troops to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va., effectively ending the American War of Independence.

In 1789, John Jay sworn in as first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

In 1812, Napoleon's beaten French army began its long, disastrous retreat from Moscow.

In 1982, carmaker John DeLorean was arrested in Los Angeles and charged in a $24 million cocaine scheme aimed at salvaging his bankrupt sports car company. He was tried and acquitted.

In 1987, the New York stock market suffered its biggest setback, with the Dow Jones industrial average diving 508 points in one session.

In 1994, more than 20 people were killed in a terrorist bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel.

In 2000, independent counsel Robert Ray said in his final report about the White House travel office scandal that first lady Hillary Clinton gave "factually false" sworn testimony but he said he lacked evidence for criminal charges.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims packed into St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, the last formal step to sainthood.

In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent as he went on trial in Baghdad on charges of murder and torture during his reign as president of Iraq.

In 2008, two weeks before the election, Colin Powell, a Republican and former secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president.

Also in 2008, Taliban insurgents pulled 30 men from a bus in Afghanistan and beheaded them, authorities reported.

In 2009, the U.S. government announced it would no longer prosecute those who use or sell marijuana for medicinal purposes if they were complying with state laws.

In 2010, at least 30 miners were reported dead with seven missing in a gas-leak accident in a coal mine in China.

Also in 2010, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his advisers met with Taliban leaders to discuss the end of their nine-year war.

In 2011, thousands of Greek workers, angry over a new government austerity program that cuts salaries and pensions and authorizes layoffs, staged a 2-day general strike amid ongoing protests and riots across the country.

A thought for the day: Greek playwright Euripides wrote, "Do not consider painful what is good for you."