The almanac

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2013 with 70 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include American pioneer Daniel Boone in 1734; Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1811; actors Sarah Bernhardt in 1844 and Joan Fontaine in 1917 (age 96); comic actor Curly Howard of "The Three Stooges" in 1903; baseball Hall of Fame member Jimmie Foxx in 1907; English author Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature, in 1919 (age 94); psychologist and LSD advocate Timothy Leary in 1920; artist Robert Rauschenberg in 1925; actors Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lloyd, both in 1938 (age 75), Tony Roberts in 1939 (age 74), Annette Funicello in 1942, Catherine Deneuve in 1943 (age 70) and Jeff Goldblum in 1952 (age 61); writer Deepak Chopra in 1946 (age 67); champion skater Brian Boitano in 1963 (age 50); film producer Spike Jonze in 1969 (age 44); and musician Zac Hanson in 1985 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1797, the first parachute jump was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped from a height of about 3,300 feet over a Paris park.

In 1836, Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1938, inventor Charles Carlson produced the first dry, or xerographic, copy but had trouble attracting investors.

In 1962, U.S. President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles had been deployed in Cuba and ordered a blockade of the island.

In 1966, The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with "Supremes a Go-Go."

In 1978, Pope John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1992, pioneer sportscaster Red Barber died at age 84.

In 2001, the Pentagon announced nearly 200 U.S. jets struck Taliban and al-Qaida facilities in western Afghanistan and disputed Taliban claims that 100 civilians died when a bomb hit a hospital.

In 2009, the U.S. Congress expanded a hate-crime law to make it a federal crime to assault someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

In 2010, nearly 400,000 previously secret U.S. documents on the war in Iraq were posted on the WikiLeaks Internet website. Three months earlier, more than 75,000 undisclosed Afghan conflict documents appeared.

In 2011, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, heir to the Saudi Arabian throne, died after several years of medical problems. The prince, half-brother of King Abdullah and a longtime power in the Saudi government, was 81.

In 2012, a UPI poll indicated 53 percent of likely voters believed President Obama would defeat Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the Nov. 6 general election. Thirty-six percent said they thought Romney would be the winner and the rest were undecided.

A thought for the day: "I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means." -- Clarence Darrow