The almanac

Today is Monday, Oct. 7, the 280th day of 2013 with 85 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include British writer John Marston in 1576; signer of the Declaration of Independence Caesar Rodney in 1728; poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1849; Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon in 1870; labor activist Joe Hill in 1879; Danish atomic physicist Niels Bohr in 1885; Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad in 1897; actor Andy Devine in 1905; singer/bandleader Vaughn Monroe in 1911; actor June Allyson in 1917; actor/singer Al Martino in 1927; South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu in 1931 (age 82); television personality Joy Behar in 1942 (age 71); Oliver North, the former White House aide who became the center of the Iran-Contra controversy, in 1943 (age 70); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member John Mellencamp in 1951 (age 62); Russian President Vladimir Putin in 1952 (age 61); classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1955 (age 58); recording executive and television personality Simon Cowell in 1959 (age 54); and singers Toni Braxton in 1968 (age 45) and Taylor Hicks in 1976 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1913, for the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line.

In 1916, in the most lopsided football game on record, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University, 222-0.

In 1949, less than five months after Britain, the United States and France established the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany, the Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany) was proclaimed within the Soviet occupation zone.

In 1968, the U.S. movie industry adopted a film ratings system for the first time: G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences), R (no one under 16 admitted without an adult) and X (no one under 16 admitted).

In 1982, "Cats" opened on Broadway. The play ran continuously until Sept. 10, 2000.

In 1985, a mudslide in Ponce, Puerto Rico, killed an estimated 500 people in the island's worst disaster of the 20th century.

In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia formally declared secession from Yugoslavia.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest trading bloc.

In 1997, scientists announced they had found one of the most massive stars known behind a dense dust cloud in the Milky Way that had previously concealed it -- 25,000 light-years from Earth.

In 1999, American Home Products, maker of the diet drug combination known as "fen-phen," agreed to a $3.75 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit stemming from use of the drug, which was linked to heart-valve problems.

In 2000, Vojislav Kostunica was sworn in as Yugoslavia's president.

In 2003, Californians voted to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and elected actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, as their new governor.

In 2004, Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne.

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2006, three former congressional pages joined two others in accusing former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., of making "sexual approaches" over the Internet. Foley resigned when the first of the reports surfaced.

In 2009, a statue of blind and deaf 7-year-old Helen Keller at the moment she got a sense of language was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol. She is shown at a pump with water running into one hand while alphabet motions on her other hand (by teacher Anne Sullivan) spell "w-a-t-e-r." Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author of a dozen books.

In 2010, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, an opponent of the Chinese regime imprisoned for seeking democratic reforms.

In 2012, 14-year incumbent Hugo Chavez easily defeated challenger Henrique Capriles in Venezuela's presidential election. Officials said voter turnout was 81 percent.

A thought for the day: In "Don Quixote," Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes wrote, "Diligence is the mother of good fortune."