Advertisement

The almanac

By United Press International
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

Today is Sunday, Jan. 5, the fifth day of 2014 with 360 to follow.

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

Advertisement


Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Zebulon Pike, discoverer of Pike's Peak in Colorado, and Navy Capt. Stephen Decatur, both in 1779; King Camp Gillette, inventor of the safety razor, in 1855; U.S. baseball executive and Baseball Hall of Fame member Ban Johnson in 1864; German statesman Konrad Adenauer in 1876; astrologer Jeane Dixon in 1904; Walter Mondale, former U.S. vice president and 1984 Democratic presidential candidate, in 1928 (age 86); choreographer Alvin Ailey in 1931; Italian writer Umberto Eco and U.S. football Hall of Fame member Chuck Noll, both in 1932 (age 82); music producer Sam Phillips in 1923; football Hall of Fame member Jim Otto in 1938 (age 76); talk show host Charlie Rose in 1942 (age 72); actors George Reeves (TV's Superman) in 1914, Jane Wyman in 1917, Robert Duvall in 1931 (age 83), Diane Keaton in 1946 (age 68), Pamela Sue Martin in 1953 (age 61), Suzy Amis in 1962 (age 52), Bradley Cooper in 1975 (age 39) and January Jones in 1978 (age 36); and singers Iris DeMent in 1961 (age 53) and Marilyn Manson in 1969 (age 45).

Advertisement


On this date in history:

In 1643, in the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke.

In 1914, the Ford Motor Co. increased its pay from $2.34 for a 9-hour day to $5 for 8 hours of work.

In 1919, the National Socialist (Nazi) Party was formed in Germany.

In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was sworn in as the first woman governor in the United States.

In 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay.

In 1948, the first color newsreel, filmed at the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., was released by Warner Brothers-Pathe.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras met in Jerusalem, the first meeting of a pope and a patriarch in more than five centuries.

In 1993, the state of Washington hanged serial child-killer Westley Allan Dodd in the nation's first gallows execution in 28 years.

In 1996, the longest U.S. government shutdown ended after 21 days when Congress passed a stopgap spending measure that would allow federal employees to return to work. (President Bill Clinton signed the bill the next day.)

Advertisement

In 1998, U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., of Sonny and Cher fame, was killed when he hit a tree while skiing at South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

In 2002, a 15-year-old student pilot, flying alone, was killed in the crash of his single-engine Cessna into the 28th floor of the Bank of America building in Tampa, Fla. No one else was hurt.

In 2005, Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, was discovered.

In 2008, tribal violence following a disputed Kenya presidential election claimed almost 500 lives, officials said. Turmoil exploded after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition candidate Raila Odinga, who had a wide early lead.

In 2009, Leon Panetta, former California congressman and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, was chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to be head of the CIA.

In 2011, the 112th U.S. Congress convened with surging Republicans, buoyed by an infusion of conservative newcomers with Tea Party support, taking command of the House and Democrats retaining control of the Senate. Freshman GOP House members totaled 82, the party's largest rookie class in nearly 90 years.

Advertisement

In 2013, a cold wave that sent temperatures far below average in northern India was blamed for at least 129 deaths. Many of the victims were homeless.


A thought for the day: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." -- Maya Angelou

Latest Headlines