The almanac

Today is Sunday, Oct. 13, the 286th day of 2013 with 79 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 American Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher in 1754; baseball Hall of Fame member Rube Waddell in 1876; actors Lillie Langtry in 1853 and Cornel Wilde in 1912; editorial cartoonist Herbert Block in 1909; puppeteer Burr Tillstrom in 1917; actor/singer Yves Montand in 1921; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and comedian Lenny Bruce, both in 1925; Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator, in 1926; actor Melinda Dillon in 1939 (age 74); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Paul Simon in 1941 (age 72); musician Robert Lamm, from the band Chicago, in 1944 (age 69); rocker Sammy Hagar in 1947 (age 66); horse racing Hall of Fame member Pat Day in 1953 (age 60); Chris Carter, creator of "The X-Files," in 1957 (age 56); entertainer Marie Osmond in 1959 (age 54); actor Kelly Preston and football Hall of Fame member Jerry Rice, both in 1962 (age 51); Olympic gold medal-winning Cuban high jump specialist Javier Sotomayor in 1967 (age 46); figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1969 (age 44); actor Sacha Baron Cohen in 1971 (age 42); and Olympic gold medal-winning Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe in 1982 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In A.D. 54 the Roman Emperor Claudius was poisoned by his fourth wife, Agrippina.

In 1775, the Continental Congress ordered construction of America's first naval fleet.

In 1792, the cornerstone to the White House was laid. It would be November 1800 before the first presidential family (that of John Adams) moved in.

In 1884, Greenwich in England made the prime meridian for Earth's longitude.

In 1903, the Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first World Series, five games to three.

In 1917, as many as 100,000 people gathered in Fatima, Portugal, for the "Miracle of the Sun" and its strange solar activity and, for some, a reported glimpse of the Virgin Mary.

In 1943, conquered by the Allies, Italy declared war on Germany, its former partner.

In 1972, more than 170 people were killed in a Soviet airliner crash near the Moscow airport.

In 1987, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- the first winner from Central America.

In 1994, two months after the Irish Republican Army announced a cease-fire. Protestant paramilitaries in Northern Ireland did the same.

In 1999, the U.S. Senate rejected a treaty signed by the United States that banned underground nuclear testing. Despite that, President Bill Clinton pledged to abide by the treaty's provisions.

In 2003, renowned U.S. jockey Bill Shoemaker, winner of nearly 9,000 races, died at his home in San Marino, Calif. He was 72.

In 2006, U.S. Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, the only congressman charged in a Washington lobbying scandal, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a deal calling for a 27-month prison sentence.

In 2010, after more than two months entombed half a mile under the Chilean desert, the first of 33 trapped miners was pulled to safety in a narrow passageway drilled through more than 2,000 feet of rock to be followed in the next 24 hours by the rest of the crew in a dramatic finale to a remarkable rescue mission.

In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama accused "individuals in the Iranian government" of financing and directing an alleged plot to assassinate Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's U.S. ambassador. Obama called it "part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior by the Iranian government."

In 2012, authorities in Afghanistan said a suicide bomber killed at least seven Afghan intelligence officers in Kandahar province and five security guards employed by a private company died in coordinated terrorist bombings in Zabul province.

A thought for the day: "What in the world would we do without our libraries?" -- Katherine Hepburn