The almanac

Today is Friday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2014 with 341 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 the Roman Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 76; English dramatist William Congreve in 1670; Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1712; British social reformer Edwin Chadwick in 1800; author Edith Wharton in 1862; abstract painter Robert Motherwell in 1915; Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Brickhouse in 1916; actor Ernest Borgnine in 1917; evangelist Oral Roberts in 1918; ballet dancer Maria Tallchief Paschen in 1925 (age 89); musicians Doug Kershaw in 1936 (age 78) and Ray Stevens in 1939 (age 75); singers Neil Diamond and Aaron Neville, both in 1941 (age 73); actor Sharon Tate in 1943; comedian John Belushi in 1949; actor Michael Ontkean in 1946 (age 68); singer Warren Zevon in 1947; actor Nastassja Kinski in 1961 (age 53); and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton in 1968 (age 46).

On this date in history:

In 1848, gold was discovered at John Sutter's mill near Sacramento. The discovery touched off the great gold rush of 1849.

In 1908, the first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell, a general in the British army.

In 1916, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an income tax was unconstitutional.

In 1935, beer was sold in cans for the first time -- in Richmond, Va.

In 1965, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill died at age 91.

In 1993, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the nation's highest court, died of cardiac arrest at age 84.

In 1999, Jordan's King Hussein, who was seriously ill, named his son Abdullah crown prince. Abdullah replaced his father's younger brother as successor to the throne.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to prevent the husband of Terri Schiavo from removing her life-support system. Lower court rulings said the severely brain-damaged woman was in a "persistent vegetative state."

In 2008, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after losing a confidence vote in the Senate.

In 2010, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 carrying 90 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea about half an hour after taking off from Beirut. Officials said 23 people were killed.

In 2011, two suicide bombings at the Moscow Domodedovo International Airport international arrival gate killed 37 people and injured 170 others.

In 2013, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced U.S. citizen David Coleman Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in a 2008 terror attack that killed 160 people in Mumbai.

A thought for the day: Humorist Will Stanton said, "Republicans study the financial pages of the newspaper, Democrats put them in the bottom of the bird cage."