UPI Almanac for Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017

Today is Saturday, Aug. 26, the 238th day of 2017 with 127 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include first prime minister of Britain Robert Walpole in 1676; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa in 1910; basketball Hall of Fame member Tom Heinsohn in 1934 (age 83); Geraldine Ferraro, 1984 Democratic vice presidential candidate and first woman to seek so high a position on a major U.S. political party ticket, in 1935; voice actor/movie trailer specialist Don LaFontaine in 1940; singer Leon Redbone in 1949 (age 68); crossword editor Will Shortz in 1952 (age 65); jazz musician Branford Marsalis in 1960 (age 57); actor Melissa McCarthy in 1970 (age 47); actor Macaulay Culkin in 1980 (age 37); actor Chris Pine in 1980 (age 37); country singer Brian Kelley in 1985 (age 32); actor and singer Evan Ross in 1988 (age 29); actor Dylan O'Brien in 1991 (age 26); actor Keke Palmer in 1993 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1920, eight days after it was ratified, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect -- giving women the right to vote.

In 1964, Democrats nominated U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. They won easily in November.

In 1974, Charles Lindbergh died at the age of 72. He died of complications of lymphoma near his home in Kipahulu on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected the 263rd pope and chose the name John Paul I. He died 33 days later.

In 1996, a court in South Korea sentenced former President Chun Doo-hwan to death for the coup that put him in power. Chun's death sentence was commuted in 1997.

In 2003, the U.N. Security Council denounced as a "grave violation of human rights" the killings of Kuwaiti prisoners, believed to be in the hundreds, by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime.

In 2004, a leader in the U.S. Army panel investigating prisoner abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison said the team had discovered "serious misconduct and a loss of moral values."

In 2007, wildfires, all believed to be the act of arsonists, killed at least 59 people and destroyed thousands of acres of crops and forests in Greece. The fires were fanned by gale-force winds.

In 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees recognizing the independence of Georgia breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Medvedev said granting them independence was an act of necessity and he urged other nations to make similar diplomatic moves.

In 2011, Japanese Prime Minister Naota Kan resigned after a hectic 15 months that included an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear disaster. He was succeeded three days later by Yoshihiko Noda, the finance minister.

In 2012, U.S. Republican officials, gathered in Tampa, Fla., for the party's national convention, announced it would be delayed a day because of Tropical Storm Isaac.

In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter for gallantry in Afghanistan.

In 2014, Palestinian militants and Israel agreed to end seven weeks of hostilities that left more than 2,000 people dead. The cease-fire was arranged in Egypt.

In 2015, a former employee of WDBJ-TV in Virginia opened fire on his former colleagues on live television, killing news reporter Alison Parker and videographer Adam Ward. Vicki Gardner, who was being interviewed at the time of the shooting, was injured.

A thought for the day: "The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped." -- Hubert H. Humphrey