UPI Almanac for Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016

Today is Sunday, Nov. 20, the 325th day of 2016 with 41 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning star is Jupiter. The evening stars are Mercury, Saturn, Venus, Mars, Neptune and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include botanist John Merle Coulter in 1851; Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, first commissioner of baseball, in 1866; Norman Thomas, six times the Socialist Party candidate for U.S. president, in 1884; astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1889; "Dick Tracy" creator Chester Gould in 1900; TV commentator Alistair Cooke in 1908; singer/actor Judy Canova in 1916; U.S. Sens. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., in 1917 and Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., in 1925; actors Kaye Ballard in 1925 (age 91) and Estelle Parsons in 1927 (age 88); actor/TV game show host Richard Dawson in 1932; musician and comedian Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers in 1939 (age 77); U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in 1942 (age 74); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Duane Allman in 1946 and Joe Walsh in 1947 (age 69); former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton in 1948 (age 68); and actors Veronica Hamel in 1943 (age 73), Richard Masur in 1948 (age 68), Bo Derek in 1956 (age 60), Sean Young in 1959 (age 57) and Ming-Na Wen in 1963 (age 53).

On this date in history:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1910, the Plan de San Luis Potosi was issued by Francisco I. Madero calling for the overthrow of the Mexican government led by Porfirio Diaz. This marked the beginning of the 10-year Mexican Revolution.

In 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten.

In 1969, the Occupation of Alcatraz began as Native American activists seized control of the island prison. It took 19-months to remove the activists from the rock.

In 1975, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain died.

In 1986, the World Health Organization announced a coordinated global effort against AIDS.

In 1992, fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew helped save priceless artworks and other valuables kept in the castle.

In 1998, Zarya, the first module that would make up the International Space Station, is launched from Kazakhstan.

In 2002, on the eve of a NATO summit, U.S. President George W. Bush called for a "coalition of the willing" to help the United States disarm Iraq if necessary.

In 2007, Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who led his South African white-minority government through a violence-wracked era until the end of white rule in 1979, died at 88 after a long illness.

In 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in to begin his second five-year term as president of Afghanistan, vowing his army would have full control of the country's security by the time he left office. (A security agreement in 2014, the year Karzai left office, allowed 9,800 American and at least 2,000 NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan, mostly on training duties, after the international combat mission ends on Dec. 31.)

In 2012, Church of England elders, in a close vote, decided not to allow women to become bishops. The issue, hotly debated in the Anglican Church, cannot come up for a vote again until 2015.

A thought for the day: "It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - - Lewis Grizzard