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The almanac

By United Press International
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This is Wednesday, Nov. 28, the 333rd day of 2011 with 33 to follow.

The moon is full. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter.

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Evening stars included Neptune, Uranus and Mars.


Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English writer John Bunyan in 1628; English poet William Blake in 1757; John Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, in 1837; architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, in 1866; Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 1929 (age 83); actor Hope Lange in 1933;

singer/composer Randy Newman in 1943 (age 69); ballet dancer Alexander Godunov and band leader Paul Shaffer (age 63), both in 1949; actors Ed Harris in 1950 (age 62), S. Epatha Merkerson (TV's "Law and Order") in 1952 (age 60) and Judd Nelson in 1959 (age 53); and comedian Jon Stewart in 1962 (age 50).

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On this date in history:

In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.

In 1919, Virginia-born Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.

In 1925, "The Grand Ole Opry," the famed country music show, made its radio debut.

In 1942, a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston killed 491 people. Most victims suffocated or were trampled to death.

In 1958, the United States fired an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time.

In 1963, Cape Canaveral, the space center in Florida, was renamed Cape Kennedy to honor the assassinated president. Area residents later voted to revert to the original name.

In 1989, Czechoslovakian Premier Ladislav Adamec agreed to a coalition government. The next day, the Czech Parliament revoked the Communist Party's monopoly.

In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

In 1993, Carlos Roberto Reina was elected president of Honduras.

In 1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and a second inmate were beaten to death by another prisoner at the Columbia Correctional Center in Portage, Wis.

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In 2002, an explosion hit an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, Kenya, killing at least 15 people and two missiles were fired at a departing Israeli passenger plane.

In 2003, an estimated 182 people were killed when two crowded ferries collided during a storm in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2004, a gas explosion in a central China mine killed a reported 166 people. About 123 miners escaped.

In 2005, at least 150 miners were killed in a northeast China coal mine explosion. Seventy-one were reported missing.

Also in 2005, U.S. Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy charges involving bribes from military contractors.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI flew to Ankara, Turkey, amid heavy security to mend religious fences and establish a dialogue with Muslims. Some 250,000 Muslims demonstrated against the papal visit over remarks Benedict made in September perceived as offensive to Islam.

Also in 2006, leftist candidate Rafael Correa was declared winner of the Ecuadorian presidential election.

In 2007, a U.S. airstrike in eastern Afghanistan killed 22 Afghan civilian road construction workers. The men, working on a U.S. military contract, died as they slept in tents in a remote mountainous area.

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In 2008, at least 400 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in clashes in Nigeria between Muslims and Christians over local elections.

Also in 2008, the assault on Mumbai ended after three violent days of shooting and bombings by a team of militants. The death toll stood at 173 with about 300 injured. The only attacker captured alive said he belonged to a militant group in Pakistan.

In 2009, golf superstar Tiger Woods was treated and released at a hospital after his car slammed into a fire hydrant and a tree near his home in suburban Orlando, Fla. Police said Woods was unconscious and they were told his wife smashed a window with a golf club to pull him from the car.

Also in 2009, a terrorist bomb planted on train tracks between Moscow and St. Petersburg derailed Russia's high-speed Nevsky Express, killing at least 27 people and injuring close to 100.

In 2010, reaction around the world was swift and mostly negative to a new batch of more than 200,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic documents published on the WikiLeaks whistle-blower Web site. U.S. officials denounced the release, which included many items classified as secret, and branded them a threat to global security.

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Also in 2010, the first round of Haiti's elections was so chaotic 12 of the 19 presidential candidates, alleging voter fraud, demanded it be canceled, reports said. Former first lady Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestine, favorite of outgoing President Rene Preval, finished 1-2 to qualify for a January runoff but the omission of popular singer Michel (Sweet Micky) Martelly touched off angry demonstrations.

In 2011, the congressional supercommittee's failure to come to grips with the federal debt led Fitch Ratings to put the U.S. credit rating on a negative outlook, meaning there was a better than 50-50 chance the rating could be downgraded within two years.

Also in 2011, Iran's Parliament voted to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain in angry response to added sanctions by Western nations.


A thought for the day: Thomas Carlyle said, "Speech is of time, silence is of eternity."

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