The almanac

Today is Saturday, Nov. 3, the 308th day of 2012 with 58 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini in 1500; early Texas leader Stephen Austin, for whom the state capital is named, in 1793; poet William Cullen Bryant in 1794; Chicago Bears legend Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski in 1908; baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller in 1918; actors Charles Bronson in 1921 and Jeremy Brett in 1933; conductor/composer John Barry in 1933: entertainer Ken Berry and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, also in 1933 (age 79); British pop singer Lulu, both Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, in 1948 (age 64); comedian Roseanne Barr in 1952 (age 60); comedian Dennis Miller and actor Kate Capshaw, both in 1953 (age 59); actors Kathy Kinney in 1954 (age 58) and Dolph Lundgren in 1957 (age 55); and model and actor Gemma Ward in 1987 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1783, with American independence established, Congress ordered the Continental Army demobilized.

In 1803, with the support of the U.S. government, Panama issued a declaration of independence from Colombia.

In 1928, Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time, with Walt Disney doing the voice of his soon-to-be-famous creation, in "Steamboat Willie," the first fully synchronized sound cartoon produced.

In 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune printed the famously premature (and incorrect) headline, "Dewey defeats Truman."

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first animal into space -- a dog named Laika -- aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft.

In 1964, Lyndon Johnson was elected U.S. president with a margin larger than in any previous election, defeating Republican Barry Goldwater.

In 1976, former Democratic Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia was elected the 39th U.S. president, defeating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford.

In 1979, five members of the Communist Workers Party, participating in a "Death to the Klan" rally in Greensboro, N.C., were shot to death by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. Seven others were wounded.

In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton, the governor of Arkansas, defeated incumbent U.S. Republican President George H.W. Bush for the U.S. presidency.

In 1995, Typhoon Angela killed more than 700 people in the northern Philippines.

In 2001, Osama bin Laden, in a taped message, called the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan a war against Islam.

Also in 2001, anthrax spores were confirmed in India and Pakistan and on additional postal equipment in the United States.

In 2004, Hamid Karzai was officially declared the winner in Afghanistan's first presidential election.

In 2006, Katharine Jefferts Schori was installed as the first female presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

In 2008, Afghan officials said a U.S. airstrike hit a wedding party in the southern province of Kandahar, killing a reported 40 civilians and wounding 30 others.

In 2009, the Republican Party, after a clobbering in 2008 at all levels, won the off-year governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, the latter featuring a GOP sweep of statewide offices.

Also in 2009, Maine voters overturned a law allowing same-sex marriage, the 31st state to block the procedure through a public referendum.

In 2010, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would buy $600 billion of the United States' huge national debt with treasury bonds.

In 2011, U.S. Senate Republicans, joined by one Democrat and one Independent, blocked a $60 billion proposal for transportation and infrastructure President Barack Obama said would "put Americans back to work." It was the third GOP block of a provision in the new jobs proposal.

Also in 2011, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou helped clear the way for his country to get a $178 billion EU bailout when he dropped his call for a referendum on the issue. He said he would resign if necessary to allow formation of a unity government.

A thought for the day: in his second inaugural address, U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "Government is not the problem and government is not the solution. We, the American people, we are the solution."