The almanac

Today is Monday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2014 with 352 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include Salmon P. Chase, sixth chief justice of the United States and whose image is on the U.S. $10,000 bill, in 1808; Horatio Alger, author of rags-to-riches stories, in 1832; Alfred Fuller, the original Fuller Brush Man, in 1885; singer Sophie Tucker in 1886; Hollywood columnist Army Archerd in 1922; television executive Brandon Tartikoff in 1949; actors Robert Stack in 1919, Gwen Verdon in 1925, Frances Sternhagen in 1930 (age 84); Charles Nelson Reilly in 1931, Rip Taylor in 1934 (age 80); Richard Moll in 1943 (age 71), Kevin Anderson in 1960 (age 54), Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 1961 (age 53), Penelope Ann Miller in 1964 (age 50), Patrick Dempsey in 1966 (age 48), Orlando Bloom in 1977 (age 37) and Liam Hemsworth in 1990 (age 24); and country singed Trace Adkins in 1962 (age 52).

On this date in history:

In 1864, composer Stephen Foster ("My Old Kentucky Home") died in a New York hospital, three days after he was found sick and almost penniless in a hotel room.

In 1910, radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee Deforest arranged the world's first public radio broadcast, a performance by the New York Metropolitan Opera.

In 1915, nearly 30,000 people were killed in an earthquake in Avezzano, Italy.

In 1941, Irish novelist James Joyce died at age 58.

In 1953, Josip Broz Tito was chosen president of Yugoslavia. (He would serve until May 1980.)

In 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashed into a Potomac River bridge in Washington, killing 78 people.

In 1987, seven top New York Mafia bosses, including the heads of the Genovese, Colombo and Lucchese crime families, were each sentenced to 100 years in prison.

In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder took office in Virginia, becoming the first elected African-American governor of a U.S. state.

In 1991, at least 40 South Africans were killed and 50 injured when fighting erupted during a soccer game in Orkney.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to seven African-American soldiers for their courage in action in Italy during World War II. It was the first time the medal was given to black WWII servicemen.

In 1999, Michael Jordan, regarded by many as the greatest basketball player ever, announced his retirement. He had led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships.

In 2001, more than 800 people were killed when an early morning earthquake shook the coast of El Salvador.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II argued against war in Iraq except as "the very last option." He said it would be "a defeat for humanity."

In 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia slammed into a rocky shoal near the Italian coast and capsized, killing 32 people.

In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron pledged Britain would provide non-combat help in France's military intervention in Mali.

A thought for the day: "Those who hate rain hate life." -- Dejan Stojanovic