UPI Almanac for Saturday, July 16, 2016

Today is Saturday, July 16, the 198th day of 2016 with 168 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English painter Joshua Reynolds in 1723; Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science Church, in 1821; rights activist Ida Bell Wells-Barnett in 1862; Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen in 1872; baseball great/"Black Sox" scandal figure "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in 1887; actor Percy Kilbride ("Pa Kettle") in 1888; vaudeville star Blossom Seeley in 1891; first U.N. Secretary-General Trygva Lie in 1896; popcorn tycoon Orville Redenbacher in 1907; actor Barbara Stanwyck in 1907; actor/dancer Ginger Rogers in 1911; actor Barnard Hughes in 1915; Bess Myerson, Miss America 1945/TV personality, in 1924; actor Corin Redgrave in 1939; tennis Hall of Fame member Margaret Court in 1942 (age 74); football Hall of Fame member Jimmy Johnson in 1943 (age 73); singer/actor Ruben Blades in 1948 (age 68); violinist Pinchas Zukerman in 1948 (age 68); musician Stewart Copeland in 1952 (age 64); playwright Tony Kushner in 1956 (age 60); cyclist Miguel Indurain in 1964 (age 52); football Hall of Fame member Barry Sanders in 1968 (age 48); actor Phoebe Cates in 1963 (age 53); actor Will Ferrell in 1967 (age 49); actor Rain Pryor in 1969 (age 47); actor Corey Feldman in 1971 (age 45).

On this date in history:

In 1769, the first Roman Catholic mission in California was dedicated at the site of present-day San Diego.

In 1790, the U.S. Congress designated the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the U.S. government.

In 1918, Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family were killed by Bolsheviks who had held them captive for two months.

In 1935, the world's first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City.

In 1945, the first test of the atom bomb was conducted at a secret base near Alamogordo, N.M.

In 1951, J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" was published.

In 1959, Billie Holiday, considered one of the greatest jazz singers despite a tragic life, died of cardiac failure at age 44.

In 1969, Apollo 11, the first moon-landing mission, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was unanimously nominated as the Republican candidate for president at the GOP National Convention in Detroit. He chose George H. W. Bush as his running mate after former President Gerald Ford declined to join the ticket.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, were killed in the crash of a single-engine plane in the Atlantic Ocean off the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard. The son of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy was 39.

In 2004, TV personality and businesswoman Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest after being found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators.

In 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States and Israel are on the "same page" when it comes to Iran and its nuclear program.

In 2013, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder condemned so-called stand-your-ground laws, which allow people to defend themselves with deadly force if they feel they are in danger. He said the laws "senselessly expand the concept of self-defense" and may encourage "violent situations to escalate."

In 2014, a federal judge declared California's death penalty system unconstitutional, saying it is dysfunctional and beyond repair, with inmates waiting on death row for decades.

In 2015, four Marines were killed and three others seriously injured when a gunman opened fire at two U.S. military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn. The attacker, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, was killed by police in a gunfight.

A thought for the day: "Truth is not determined by a majority vote." -- Pope Benedict XVI