The almanac

Today is Friday, June 14, the 165th day of 2013 with 200 to follow.

Today is Flag Day in the United States.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Mercury, Saturn and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1811; bookseller John Bartlett, compiler of "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations," in 1820; former Wisconsin Gov. Robert La Follette in 1855; German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1864; singer, composer Cliff Edwards (also the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's "Pinocchio") in 1895; photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White in 1904; actor/folksinger Burl Ives in 1909; actors Dorothy McGuire in 1916 and Gene Barry in 1919; Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1928; actor Marla Gibbs (age 82) and musician Junior Walker, both in 1931; Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio in 1932 (age 81); rock musician Rod Argent in 1945 (age 68); real estate mogul Donald Trump in 1946 (age 67); Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in 1950 (age 63); women's basketball Coach Pat Summitt in 1952 (age 61); Olympic gold medal speed skater Eric Heiden in 1958 (age 55); singer Boy George (George O'Dowd) in 1961 (age 52); actors Traylor Howard in 1966 (age 47) and Yasmine Bleeth in 1968 (age 45); TV journalist Campbell Brown also in 1968 (age 45); tennis star Steffi Graf in 1969 (age 44); Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang in 1982 (age 31); and actors Daryl and Evan Sabara in 1992 (age 21).

On this date in history:

In 1623, in the first breach-of-promise suit in the United States, the Rev. Greville Pooley sued Cicely Jordan in Charles City, Va., for jilting him for another man.

In 1775, the Continental Congress established the army as the first U.S. military service.

In 1777, the Stars and Stripes became the national U.S. flag.

In 1919, Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Brown flew a Vickers Vimy bomber 1,900 miles non-stop from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, to Clifden, Ireland, for the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

In 1922, Warren G. Harding became the first U.S. president to broadcast a message over the radio. The occasion was the dedication of the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore.

In 1933, the first Superman comic book -- Action Comic No. 1 -- was published.

In 1951, Univac I, the world's first commercial computer, designed for the U.S. Census Bureau, was introduced.

In 1954, the phrase "under God" was formally added to U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1985, Shiite Muslim gunmen commandeered TWA Flight 847 carrying 153 passengers and crew from Athens to Rome. The ordeal ended 17 days later in Beirut, where one of the hostages, a U.S. sailor, was killed.

In 1990, flash floods around Shadyside, Ohio, killed at least 26 people and damaged or destroyed more than 800 homes in four eastern Ohio counties.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated federal Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She succeeded Justice Byron White.

In 1998, the Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA title in eight years and third in a row, defeating the Utah Jazz in the championship series.

In 1999, the South African National Assembly elected Thabo Mbeki as president, succeeding Nelson Mandela. Mbeki had served as deputy president under Mandela.

In 2002, U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders adopted new rules for all dioceses calling for removal from active service of any priest found to have abused a minor and for the reporting of accusations to civil authorities.

In 2003, the Czech Republic voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union.

In 2008, heavy rains flooded Iowa and other Midwestern states, claiming at least 24 lives and damaging millions of acres of corn and soybeans.

In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama extended sanctions against the Belarus government, saying it had "taken steps backward" in democracy and human rights.

A thought for the day: Walt Whitman wrote, "If anything is sacred the human body is sacred."