The almanac

Today is Monday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2014 with 331 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 Aquarius. They include German composer Felix Mendelssohn in 1809; U.S. journalist Horace Greeley in 1811; Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor of medicine, in 1821; poet and novelist Gertrude Stein in 1874; artist Norman Rockwell in 1894; gangster Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd in 1904; author James Michener in 1907; comedians Joey Bishop in 1918 and Shelley Berman in 1925 (age 89); actor John Fiedler, also in 1925; football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Fran Tarkenton in 1940 (age 74) and Bob Griese in 1945 (age 69); Rock, and Roll Hall of Fame member Dave Davies (The Kinks) in 1947 (age 67); Nobel Peace Prize laureate Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo in 1948 (age 66); professional golfer Retief Goosen in 1969 (age 45); and actors Blythe Danner in 1943 (age 71), Morgan Fairchild and Pamela Franklin, both in 1950 (age 64), Nathan Lane in 1956 (age 58), Thomas Calabro in 1959 (age 55), Maura Tierney in 1965 (age 49) and Warwick Davis in 1970 (age 44).

On this date in history:

In 1377, 2,000 people in Cesena, Italy, were killed by papal troops in what became known as the Cesena Bloodbath.

In 1690, Massachusetts Colony issued the first paper money in America.

In 1783, Spain recognized the independence of the United States from Great Britain.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment, allowing establishment of an income tax, became part of the U.S. Constitution after ratification by Wyoming.

In 1917, the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany after a German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare.

In 1924, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, died in Washington at the age of 67.

In 1959, singers Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens were killed in a plane crash near Mason City, Iowa.

In 1966, the Soviet Union accomplished the first controlled landing on the moon when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touched down on the Ocean of Storms.

In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law by U.S. President Richard Nixon.

In 1992, angry rhetoric escalated between the United States and Japan after Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa accused U.S. workers of lacking a "work ethic."

In 1994, the shuttle Discovery blasted off into space with the first Russian astronaut aboard a U.S. spacecraft.

In 1998, Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, the first female inmate to be put to death by the state in 135 years.

In 2004, the discovery of the lethal poison ricin in the mailroom of U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the Senate majority leader, forced the closing of three Senate office buildings in Washington.

In 2005, more than 50 people died when a train rammed a trailer carrying a wedding party at a railroad crossing in India.

In 2006, an Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, an accident that killed about 1,000 people.

In 2007, a truck bomb exploded in a Baghdad market killing at least 135 people and injuring more than 300.

In 2008, Serbian President Boris Tadic, a pro-Western leader who favors closer ties with the United States, won re-election over a hard-line Radical Party candidate.

In 2011, the New York City Council approved a measure banning smoking in 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches.

In 2013, two bombs exploded outside a police station in Kirkuk, Iraq, killing 35 people.

A thought for the day: Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."