UPI Almanac for Thursday, June 18, 2015

Today is Thursday, June 18, the 169th day of 2015 with 196 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include Cyrus Curtis, founder/publisher of the Ladies' Home Journal, in 1850; journalist/publisher Edward W. Scripps in 1854; British mountain climber George Mallory in 1886; singer/actor Jeanette MacDonald in 1903; actor Keye Luke in 1904; Tin Pan Alley composer Sammy Cahn in 1913; vintner Robert Mondavi in 1913; financial journalist Sylvia Porter in 1913; actor E.G. Marshall in 1914; actor Richard Boone in 1917; oil well firefighter Red Adair in 1915; baseball Hall of Fame member Lou Brock in 1939 (age 76); film critic Roger Ebert in 1942; former South African President Thabo Mbeki in 1942 (age 73); singer/composer Paul McCartney in 1942 (age 73); actor Carol Kane in 1952 (age 63); actor Isabella Rossellini in 1952 (age 63); singer Jemma Griffiths, known by stage name Jem, in 1975 (age 40).

On this date in history:

In 1812, the United States declared war on Britain.

In 1815, England's Duke of Wellington and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in Belgium.

In 1975, Saudi Arabian Prince Museid was publicly beheaded in Riyadh for the assassination of King Faisal.

In 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a strategic arms control treaty (SALT II) in Vienna.

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space after the shuttle Challenger was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

In 1990, gunman James Edward Pough, 42, whose car had been repossessed, killed nine people and wounded four before committing suicide at a General Motors Acceptance Corp. loan office in Jacksonville, Fla. Investigators said he had killed two people and wounded two others a day earlier.

In 1997, Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned under pressure after his governing coalition lost its majority in Parliament.

In 2004, U.S. hostage Paul Johnson Jr., 49, was killed by his Saudi captors despite pleas from senior Muslim clerics.

In 2007, United States and European Union officials announced they would resume aid to Palestinians.

In 2012, Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia issued a statement on the conflict in Syria. It said, "We are united in the belief that the Syrian people should have the opportunity to independently and democratically choose their own future."

In 2013, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a funeral in Mardan, Pakistan. At least 34 people died and dozens of others were injured.

In 2014, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw pitched the team's second no-hitter in less than a month, striking out 15 batters in an 8-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies. LA's Josh Beckett held Philadelphia hitless May 25

A thought for the day: "The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel." -- John Glenn