The almanac

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2013 with 336 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Swedish scientist and philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg in 1688; American colonial political philosopher Thomas Paine in 1736; William McKinley, 25th president of the United States, in 1843; Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov in 1860; businessman John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1874; comic actor W.C. Fields in 1880; dramatist Paddy Chayefsky in 1923; actors Victor Mature in 1913, John Forsythe in 1918, Katharine Ross in 1940 (age 73), Tom Selleck in 1945 (age 68) and Ann Jillian in 1950 (age 63); writer Germaine Greer in 1939 (age 74); rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame member Tommy Ramone (born Erdelyi Tamas) in 1952 (age 61); TV personality Oprah Winfrey in 1954 (age 59); Olympic gold medal-winning diver Greg Louganis in 1960 (age 53); actors Nick Turturro in 1962 (age 51), Heather Graham in 1970 (age 43) and Sara Gilbert in 1975 (age 38); and singer Adam Lambert in 1982 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1820, 10 years after mental illness forced him to retire from public life, King George III, the British king who lost the American colonies, died at the age of 82.

In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" was published.

In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the United States. It joined as a free or non-slavery state at a time when southern states were seceding from the Union.

In 1886, German Karl Benz awarded a patent for the gasoline-driven automobile.

In 1900, eight baseball teams were organized as the professional American League. They were in Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee; and Minneapolis.

In 1936, the first class of inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame included Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.

In 1963, the first inductees named for the Pro Football Hall of Fame included Sammy Baugh, Harold "Red" Grange, George Halas, Don Hutson, Earl "Curly" Lambeau, Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thrope.

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping, deputy premier of China, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed accords that reversed decades of U.S. opposition to the People's Republic of China.

In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowls when they routed the San Diego Chargers, 49-26.

In 1996, France announced that it would stop open-air nuclear testing.

In 2000, delegates from more than 130 nations meeting in Montreal adopted the first global treaty regulating trade in genetically modified food products.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush warned in his State of the Union address that the war on terrorism was just beginning with thousands of potential terrorists "spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs." It was in this speech he referred to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as part of an "Axis of Evil."

In 2003, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office said the year's federal deficit would soar to $199 billion.

In 2004, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people on a Jerusalem bus and injured 50 others. The blast disrupted the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

In 2006, Kuwait's new ruler, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, was sworn in to replace ailing Emir Sheik Saad Abdullah al-Sabah.

In 2008, federal reports alleged substandard care at a veterans' hospital in Marion, Ill., had contributed to 19 deaths over the past two years.

In 2009, impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted of abuse of power by an almost unanimous vote by members of the state House and Senate and removed from office.

Also in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, expanding workers' rights to sue in pay disputes.

In 2010, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that the gross national product grew at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, fastest growth in six years. However, the United States lost 20,000 jobs in January, though unemployment improved from 10 percent to 9.7 percent.

Also in 2010, Scott Roeder was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2009 Wichita, Kansas, church slaying of Dr. George Tiller, noted for performing late-term abortions. Roeder, 52, was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2011, after a week of violent anti-government protests in Cairo with thousands involved, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called out the army to stop demonstrations and said he had ordered Cabinet ministers to resign but that he would retain power.

In 2012, the U.S. Defense Department said it couldn't account for about $2 billion, or two-thirds of what Iraq gave it to pay bills, a U.S. government audit reported.

A thought for the day: there's a Chinese proverb that says, "Teachers open the door but you must enter by yourself."