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The almanac

By United Press International
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Today is Monday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2013 with 22 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include English poet John Milton in 1608; journalist Joel Chandler Harris, author of the "Uncle Remus" stories, in 1845; Clarence Birdseye, industrialist/inventor, noted as "the father of frozen foods," in 1886; actor Hermione Gingold in 1897; circus clown Emmett Kelly in 1898; actor Margaret Hamilton in 1902; bandleader Freddy Martin in 1906; actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in 1909 and Broderick Crawford in 1911; former Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, D-Mass., in 1912; actor Kirk Douglas in 1916 (age 97); comedian Redd Foxx in 1922; actors Dina Merrill in 1925 (age 88), Dick Van Patten in 1928 (age 85), John Cassavetes in 1929, Buck Henry in 1930 (age 83); Judi Dench in 1934 (age 79) and Beau Bridges in 1941 (age 72); football Hall of Fame members Deacon Jones in 1938 and Dick Butkus in 1942 (age 71); actors Michael Nouri in 1945 (age 68), Michael Dorn in 1952 (age 61) and John Malkovich in 1953 (age 60); golf Hall of Fame member Tom Kite in 1949 (age 64); singers Joan Armatrading in 1950 (age 63) and Donny Osmond in 1957 (age 56); actors Joe Lando in 1961 (age 52) and Felicity Huffman in 1962 (age 51); and singer Jakob Dylan in 1969 (age 44).

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On this date in history:

In 1907, the first Christmas Seals to raise money to fight tuberculosis went on sale in the post office in Wilmington, Del.

In 1920, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

In 1958, in Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H. W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into U.S. society.

In 1974, White House aide John Ehrlichman testified at the Watergate trial that U.S. President Richard Nixon was responsible for a coverup.

In 1987, in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, the first riots of the Palestinian intifada began one day after an Israeli truck crashed into a station wagon carrying Palestinian workers, killing four and wounding 10.

In 1990, Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential vote.

In 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In 2002, United Airlines, which said it was losing $22 million a day, filed for bankruptcy.

In 2006, U.S. midterm election figures indicated Democrats made a 31-seat gain to recapture control of the House of Representatives, with 233 seats to 202 for the Republicans. Democrats earlier assured themselves the Senate majority.

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In 2009, the U.S. government's bailout program for ailing major banks "played a critical role in renewing the flow of credit and preventing a more acute crisis," the independent Congressional Oversight Panel said in a year-end report.

In 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin blamed the United States for encouraging opposition protests that had broken out since parliamentary elections.

In 2012, the death toll from Typhoon Bopha, which raged across the Philippines for five days, increased to 540, with more than 1,000 people injured and about 800 missing, officials said.


A thought for the day: English poet John Milton wrote, "No man who know aught can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free."

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