The almanac

Today is Thursday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2014 with 342 to follow.

The moon is waning. 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 Aquarius. They include American patriot John Hancock in 1737; French author Stendhal, a pseudonym for Marie-Henri Beyle, in 1783; French Impressionist painter Edouard Manet in 1832; Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein in 1898; actors Randolph Scott in 1898 and Dan Duryea in 1907; comedian Ernie Kovacs in 1919; actor/singer Chita Rivera in 1933 (age 81); actors Gil Gerard in 1943 (age 71), Rutger Hauer in 1944 (age 70) and Richard Dean Anderson in 1950 (age 64); airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who landed his disabled airliner in the Hudson River, in 1951 (age 63); former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 1953 (age 61); Princess Caroline of Monaco in 1957 (age 57); and actors Gail O'Grady in 1963 (age 51), Mariska Hargitay in 1964 (age 50) and Tiffani Thiessen in 1974 (age 40).

On this date in history:

In 1789, Georgetown College was founded in Georgetown, Md., which later would be part of the District of Columbia.

In 1845, the U.S. Congress decided that all national elections would take place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a medical degree.

In 1922, at Toronto General Hospital, 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson became the first person to receive an insulin injection as treatment for diabetes.

In 1948, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said he couldn't accept a presidential nomination from either party. Four years later, he ran as a Republican and was elected as the 34th president.

In 1968, the USS Pueblo was seized in the Sea of Japan by North Korea, which claimed the ship was on a spy mission. (The crew was held for 11 months before being released.)

In 1971, the temperature at Prospect Creek, Alaska, dropped to 80 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature recorded in the United States.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that U.S. troops would cease fighting in Vietnam at midnight Jan. 27.

In 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter reinstated the Selective Service System.

In 1986, the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

In 1997, Madeline Albright was sworn into office as the first woman U.S. secretary of state.

In 2004, Bob Keeshan, the easy-going, bushy-mustached actor who created the classic children's television show "Captain Kangaroo," died at age 76.

In 2005, Johnny Carson, host of TV's "Tonight Show" for 30 years and a powerful presence in American entertainment, died of emphysema at age 79.

In 2006, Ford Motor Co., reflecting the downsizing of the U.S. auto industry, said it would close 14 factories and eliminate 30,000 jobs over six years.

In 2008, Thailand returned to civilian rule after a military council that had ruled the country for 16 months disbanded.

In 2011, Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva won election to a second five-year term.

In 2013, a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded many others during a funeral at a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq.

A thought for the day: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambition. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." -- Mark Twain