Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Saturday, July 13, the 194th day of 2013 with 171 to follow. The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Saturn and Venus. Advertisement Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include the U.S. businessman John Jacob Astor IV in 1864; Rev. Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, in 1886; Dave Garroway, former host of TV's "Today Show," in 1913; former HUD Secretary, congressman and pro football star Jack Kemp in 1935; actors Bob Crane in 1928, Patrick Stewart in 1940 (age 73) and Harrison Ford in 1942 (age 71); rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame member Roger McGuinn in 1942 (age 71); Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik of Hungary in 1944 (age 69); comedian Cheech Marin in 1946 (age 67); radio and television sports commentator Tony Kornheiser in 1948 (age 65); country singer Louise Mandrell in 1954 (age 59); and screenwriter and director Cameron Crowe in 1957 (age 56). Advertisement On this date in history: In 1859, Mexican revolutionary President Benito Juarez ordered property of the Roman Catholic Church confiscated throughout Mexico. In 1863, opposition to the Federal Conscription Act led to riots in New York City. More than 1,000 people were killed. In 1898, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded a patent for wireless telegraphy, the radio. In 1960, Democrats nominated Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for president against GOP Vice President Richard Nixon. In 1977, a state of emergency was declared in New York City during a 25-hour power blackout. In 1990, the U.S. Senate gave final legislative approval to a bill that would forbid discrimination based on disability, including that caused by AIDS or alcoholism. President George H.W. Bush signed the measure into law July 26. In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Israel's new prime minister, ending the hard-line Likud Party's 15-year reign. In 1998, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto resigned, a victim of the country's economic woes. In 2002, the Bush administration said that fiscal 2002 would have a deficit of $165 billion despite the $127 billion surplus recorded for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2001. In 2003, a new 25-member Iraqi council, representing all major religious and ethnic groups in the country, had its first meeting in a major step toward self-government. Advertisement In 2005, a judge in New York sentenced former WorldCom Chief Executive Officer Bernard Ebbers to 25 years in prison for his part in what was described as the largest fraud in U.S. corporate history. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a plan to save two major government-backed mortgage companies known as Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac with billions of dollars in investments and loans. In 2010, four months before the 2010 midterm elections, 58 percent of voters surveyed in a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated doubt in U.S. President Barack Obama's leadership. In 2011, terrorists detonated three bombs in a coordinated late-afternoon attack on Mumbai, striking an opera house, a bazaar and a third target. Officials said 26 people were killed and 130 injured. In 2012, a Gallup poll indicated 58 percent of voters age 18-29 definitely planned to vote in the U.S. presidential election in November. A thought for the day: poet John Gay said, "Life is a jest; and all things show it; I thought so once; and now I know it."
