The almanac

Today is Wednesday, June 19, the 170th day of 2013 with 195 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mars, Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Saturn and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, in 1566; French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1623; the Duchess of Windsor, born Bessie Wallis Warfield, in 1896; Moe Howard, leader of the Three Stooges comedy act, in 1897; bandleader Guy Lombardo in 1902; baseball Hall of Fame member Lou Gehrig in 1903; former U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., and musician Lester Flatt, both in 1914; film critic Pauline Kael in 1919; actors Louis Jourdan in 1921 (age 92), Nancy Marchand in 1928 and Gena Rowlands in 1930 (age 83); Myanmar Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 1945 (age 68); author Salman Rushdie in 1947 (age 66); actor Phylicia Rashad in 1948 (age 65); musicians Nick Drake in 1948 and Ann Wilson of Heart, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, in 1950 (age 63); actor Kathleen Turner in 1954 (age 59); singer Paula Abdul in 1962 (age 51); political commentator Laura Ingraham in 1964 (age 49); actors Mia Sara in 1967 (age 46), Robin Tunney in 1972 (age 41) and Paul Dano in 1984 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 325 A.D., the early Christian church opened the general council of Nicaea, which settled on rules for computing the date of Easter.

In 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention voted to strike down the Articles of Confederation and form a new government.

In 1846, two amateur baseball teams played under new rules at Hoboken, N.J., planting the first seeds of organized baseball. The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers, 23-1.

In 1856, the first Republican national convention ended in Philadelphia with the nomination of explorer John Charles Fremont of California for president. James Buchanan, a Federalist nominated by the Democrats, was elected.

In 1867, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, was executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic.

Also in 1867, the first running of the Belmont Stakes took place at Jerome Park, N.Y.

In 1905, Pittsburgh showman Harry Davis opened the world's first nickelodeon, showing the silent Western film "The Great Train Robbery." The storefront theater boasted 96 seats, charged 5 cents and prompted the advent of movie houses across the United States.

In 1910, Spokane, Wash., marked the first Father's Day.

In 1943, World War II's Battle of the Philippine Sea began, with Japan trying unsuccessfully to prevent further Allied advancement in the South Pacific.

In 1953, convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed.

In 1977, Elvis Presley made his final live concert recordings at a series of appearances in Nebraska. He died two months later.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1981 Louisiana law that required schools to teach the creationist theory of human origin espoused by fundamentalist Christians.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers led by students at public high school football games aren't permitted under the constitutional separation of church and state.

In 2008, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, became the first candidate at that level to bypass public financing since the program was established.

In 2010, a U.N. report said the level of insurgent violence in Afghanistan jumped in the previous three months, with a near doubling of roadside bombings and an increase in suicide attacks and assassinations.

In 2011, a stubborn wildfire in Arizona near the New Mexico border had consumed more than half a million acres of land despite efforts of 4,000 firefighters.

In 2012, temperatures on the final day of spring soared to more than 100 degrees in parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Death Valley, Calif., topped the list at 115.

A thought for the day: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "So of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more of it remains."