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The almanac

By United Press International
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

Today is Friday, May 10, the 130th day of 2013 with 235 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter and Saturn.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include British statesman and scholar James Bryce in 1838; Swiss theologian Karl Barth in 1886; Max Steiner, who composed musical scores for movies, including "Gone With The Wind" and "Casablanca," in 1888; actor/dancer Fred Astaire in 1899; movie producer David O. Selznick in 1902; musician Maybelle Carter in 1909; pediatrician/author T. Berry Brazelton in 1919 (age 94); football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall in 1930; British writer Barbara Taylor Bradford in 1933; musicians Donovan Leitch and Dave Mason, both in 1946 (age 67), and Sid Vicious in 1957; John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman in 1955 (age 58); actors Nancy Walker in 1922, Gary Owens in 1936 (age 77) and Kenan Thompson in 1978 (age 35); rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame member and U2 lead singer Bono, born Paul David Hewson, in 1960 (age 53); former astronaut Lisa Nowak in 1963 (age 50); supermodel Linda Evangelista in 1965 (age 48); race car driver Helio Castroneves in 1975 (age 38).

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On this date in history:

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops and spent the next two years in prison.

In 1869, the "golden spike" was driven at Promontory, Utah, joining the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific lines to form America's first transcontinental railway.

In 1908, Mother's Day observed for the first time in the United States.

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was appointed director of the FBI, a position he held until his death in 1972.

In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, swinging 89 army divisions around France's so-called impregnable Maginot Line. One month later, German forces entered Paris.

Also in 1940, Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom.

In 1954, "Rock Around the Clock" was released by Bill Haley and His Comets. It was the first rock 'n' roll record to reach the top on the Billboard charts.

In 1973, a federal grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal indicted former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans on perjury charges.

In 1984, a federal judge in Utah found the U.S. government negligent in above-ground Nevada nuclear tests from 1951 to 1962 that exposed downwind residents to radiation.

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In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

Also in 1994, John Wayne Gacy, the convicted killer of 33 young men and boys, was executed in Illinois.

In 1995, Terry Nichols was charged in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Timothy McVeigh earlier had been charged in the case.

Also in 1995, the World Health Organization said a mysterious disease in Zaire was caused by the Ebola virus. By the time the outbreak was declared over in late August, 244 of the 315 known victims had died.

In 2000, Pentagon officials said an investigation had concluded that the U.S. Army's highest-ranking woman had been the victim of sexual harassment from another Army general.

In 2002, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who had spied for the Soviet Union and Russia for more than 20 years, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

In 2003, a record outburst of tornadoes in the Midwest and South over several days claimed 48 lives, injured hundreds of people and leveled hundreds of buildings. The total of 400 twisters was twice the previous U.S. weekly record.

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In 2004, U.S. Army forces leveled the Baghdad headquarters of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and killed 35 people.

In 2007, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he would leave step down in June after 10 years in office.

In 2009, Sri Lanka military officials denied reports that government troops killed more than 2,000 civilians in a clash with Tamil Tiger militants.

In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Justice Paul Stevens.

Also in 2010, Benigno Aquino III, son of a former president, defeated ex-chief of state Joseph Estrada ion an election and won the Philippine presidency.

In 2012, two car bombs exploded outside an intelligence compound in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people and injuring nearly 400.


A thought for the day: in "Don Juan," George Gordon Byron wrote, "Adversity is the first path to truth."

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