The almanac

Today is Friday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2013 with 130 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include French King Louis XVI in 1754; British economist Arnold Toynbee in 1852; poet and novelist Edgar Lee Masters in 1868; British radio pioneer William Eccles in 1875; Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, hero of Bataan in World War II, in 1883; humorist Will Cuppy in 1884; cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller (creator of "Nancy") in 1905; dancer/actor/director Gene Kelly in 1912; bandleader/singer Bob Crosby in 1913; baseball Hall of Fame member George Kell in 1922; actors Vera Miles in 1930 (age 83) and Barbara Eden in 1931 (age 82); political comedian Mark Russell in 1932 (age 81); football Hall of Fame member Sonny Jurgensen in 1934 (age 79); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Keith Moon (The Who) in 1946; actor Shelley Long and singer/actor Rick Springfield both in 1949 (age 64); Jordan's Queen Noor in 1951 (age 62); actors Jay Mohr (age 43) and River Phoenix, both in 1970; pro basketball star Kobe Bryant in 1978 (age 35); and Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Natalie Coughlin in 1982 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1305, Scottish patriot leader William Wallace was executed for treason.

In 1926, the death of silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino sent his fans into hysterical mourning.

In 1927, despite worldwide demonstrations in their behalf, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murder.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact. Less than two years later, Germany launched a blitzkrieg attack on Russia.

In 1982, Beirut Christian leader Beshir Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon. He was assassinated less than one month later and was succeeded by his brother, Amin.

In 1991, Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin pressured Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev into replacing his Cabinet in the wake of a failed coup.

In 1999, Berlin once again became the capital of Germany.

In 2003, a former priest who had been in the forefront of the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church was strangled, apparently by another inmate, at a Massachusetts prison.

In 2007, military authorities investigated the crash of a U.S. helicopter that apparently malfunctioned and crashed in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, killing 14 military personnel aboard.

In 2008, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., confirmed he chose U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate at the top of the Democratic Party ticket.

In 2010, rescue workers at a caved-in gold and copper mine in northern Chile made contact with 33 men trapped nearly 2,300 feet underground for 17 days who had found refuge in a small emergency shelter that had water and ventilation. In a remarkable, unrelenting effort, all hands were rescued two months later.

In 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, unusually strong for the eastern United States, rattled Washington and Virginia with shockwaves as far north as Canada. The quake was the strongest to hit Virginia in more than a century, briefly causing a power shutdown at a nuclear plant. The Washington Monument and the National Cathedral in Washington were damaged by the quake.

In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, if elected, he would replace longtime Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and appoint someone who "shared my economic views."

A thought for the day: "Don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." -- Gen. George S. Patton