On This Day in History - November 10th - Almanac

Today is Friday, Nov. 10, the 314th day of 2017 with 51 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism, in 1483; William Hogarth, English artist and engraver, in 1697; actor Richard Burton in 1925; American Indian rights activist/actor Russell Means in 1939; lyricist Tim Rice in 1944 (age 73); country singer Donna Fargo in 1945 (age 72); rock musician Greg Lake in 1947; rock musician Dave Loggins in 1947 (age 70); actor Mackenzie Phillips in 1959 (age 58); sports journalist Linda Cohn in 1959 (age 58); filmmaker Roland Emmerich in 1955 (age 62); comedian Sinbad, born David Adkins, in 1956 (age 61); actor Hugh Bonneville in 1963 (age 54); actor Michael Jai White in 1967 (age 50); actor Tracy Morgan in 1968 (age 49); actor Ellen Pompeo in 1969 (age 48); actor Brittany Murphy in 1977; DJ Diplo, born Thomas Wesley Pentz, in 1978 (age 39); rapper Eve, born Eve Jihan Jeffers, in 1978 (age 39); country singer Miranda Lambert in 1983 (age 35); actor Josh Peck in 1986 (31); actor Taron Egerton in 1989 (age 28); actor Zoey Deutch in 1994 (age 23); actor Kieran Shipka in 1999 (age 18); actor Mackenzie Foy in 2000 (age 17).

On this date in history:

In 1775, the United States Marine Corps, then known as the Continental Marines, was formed by order of the Second Continental Congress.

In 1865, the superintendent of the notorious Andersonville prison camp, Major Henry Wirz, is hanged for war crimes.

In 1871, journalist Henry Stanley found Scottish missionary David Livingstone in a small African village. His famous comment: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

In 1898, a mob of more than 2,000 people, angry over the election of a Fusionist white mayor and a biracial city council, went on a rampage throughout the city of Wilmington, N.C., targeting and killing African Americans.

In 1918, a Western Union Cable Office in Nova Scotia received a top-secret message stating that all fighting related the Great War (World War I) would cease on Nov. 11, 1918.

In 1942, Nazi troops entered previously unoccupied France, the de facto government of which was centered in Vichy state. The occupation was spurred by Allied forces teaming up with free French forces in North Africa to battle Axis powers. Germany already occupied northern France in 1940 and Vichy, led by Marshal Philippe Petain in the south, was considered to be a puppet of the Germans.

In 1951, area codes were introduced in the United States, Canada and parts of the Caribbean, allowing direct-dialing of long-distance telephone calls.

In 1969, Sesame Street premiered on PBS.

In 1975, the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald broke in two and sank during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew members.

In 1982, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev died at age 75 after 18 years in power.

In 1983, Microsoft released its Windows computer operating system.

In 1994, the only privately owned manuscript of Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci was sold at auction at Christie's in New York for $30.8 million, the highest amount paid for a manuscript. Bill Gates purchased the codex.

In 2006, Mexico City lawmakers officially recognized same-sex civil unions.

In 2009, John Allen Muhammad, convicted as the sniper who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree in the Washington area, was executed in Virginia.

A thought for the day: Author-poet Maya Angelou said, "Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."