UPI Almanac for Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017

Today is Sunday, Aug. 13, the 225th day of 2017 with 140 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning star is Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter and Mercury.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include sharpshooter Annie Oakley in 1860; actor Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz) in 1895; film director Alfred Hitchcock in 1899; golf Hall of Fame member Ben Hogan in 1912; former Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1926; actor Pat Harrington Jr. in 1929; singer Don Ho in 1930; former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders in 1933 (age 84); opera singer Kathleen Battle in 1948 (age 69); hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Clarke in 1949 (age 68); pop singer Dan Fogelberg in 1951; actor/announcer Danny Bonaduce in 1959 (age 58); Tonight Show announcer Steve Higgins in 1963 (age 54); entrepreneur Kevin Plank (Under Armour) in 1972 (age 45); Olympic gold medal speed skater Shani Davis in 1982 (age 35); actor Sebastian Stan in 1982 (age 35); basketball DeMarcus Cousins in 1990 (age 27).

On this date in history:

In 1889, William Gray patented the coin-operated telephone.

In 1930, Capt. Frank Hawkes set an air speed record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 12 hours, 25 minutes.

In 1961, East Germany closed the Brandenburg Gate and prepared to start building the Berlin Wall.

In 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter was nominated for a second term by the Democratic National Convention in New York. He lost in November to Ronald Reagan.

In 1990, singer/songwriter Curtis Mayfield was left paralyzed when he was hit by a wind-blown lighting rig on an outdoor stage in New York. He died in 1999.

In 1994, North Korea agreed to allow U.N. monitors to inspect a secret nuclear laboratory.

In 1995, former New York Yankees centerfielder Mickey Mantle died of liver cancer at the age of 63.

In 2004, the Summer Olympics opened in Athens, Greece, with a record 202 countries and 10,500 athletes taking part.

In 2008, Bill Gwatney, chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party and a former legislator, was shot to death in his Little Rock office. After a 30-mile chase, a suspect was killed by police in an exchange of gunfire. A motive for Gwatney's killing was never determined.

In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama told a campaign crowd in Iowa the result of the 2012 presidential election "will impact your lives and your children's lives for decades to come."

In 2013, Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to resume peace talks.

In 2014, Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was among seven people killed in a plane crash southeast of Sao Paulo.

In 2016, Michael Phelps wins his 23rd Olympic gold medal to finish his swimming career as the world's most decorated Olympian.

A thought for the day: "I think being a liberal, in the true sense, is being non-doctrinaire, non-dogmatic, non-committed to a cause, but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position." -- Walter Cronkite