UPI Almanac for Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017

Today is Saturday, Dec. 16, the 350th day of 2017 with 15 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of England's King Henry VIII, in 1485; novelist Jane Austen in 1775; anthropologist Margaret Mead in 1901; science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke in 1917; science fiction writer Philip K. Dick in 1928; actor Liv Ullmann in 1938 (age 79); sports journalist Frank Deford in 1938; journalist Lesley Stahl in 1941 (age 76); TV producer Steven Bochco in 1943 (age 74); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Benny Andersson (ABBA) in 1946 (age 71); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) in 1949 (age 68); actor Ben Cross in 1947 (age 70); actor Benjamin Bratt in 1963 (age 54); actor Miranda Otto in 1967 (age 50); actor Krysten Ritter in 1981 (age 36); actor Theo James in 1984 (age 33); actor Anna Popplewell in 1988 (age 29).

On this date in history:

In 1773, about 50 American patriots, protesting the British tax on tea, dumped 342 chests of it into Boston harbor in what became known as the "Boston Tea Party."

In 1835, a fire swept New York City, razing 600 buildings and causing $20 million damage.

In 1893, Anton Dvorak's "New World Symphony" premiered at New York's Carnegie Hall.

In 1907, America's "Great White Fleet" set out on its year-long circumnavigation of the globe on the order of President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1913, British actor Charles Chaplin reported to work at Keystone Studios in Hollywood, launching a legendary film career.

In 1944, Germany launched a counteroffensive in World War II that became known as the Battle of the Bulge.

In 1960, 131 people were killed in the collision of two planes over foggy New York Harbor.

In 1971, Pakistan's military surrendered in a war with India and the Bengali population, which wanted independence. The surrender established Bangladesh as a separate country.

In 1978, Cleveland, Ohio defaulted on its financial obligations, the first American city to do so since the Great Depression.

In 1989, Walter LeRoy Moody sent his first of four pipe bombs in a waves of attacks that killed two people. His first bomb killed federal judge Robert Vance at his home in Alabama.

In 1991, the U.N. General Assembly repealed a resolution equating Zionism with racism. It had been a major stumbling block in achieving peace in the Middle East.

In 1998, U.S. and British jet fighters began a four-night campaign of bombing more than 100 Iraqi military targets in what was called Operation Desert Fox. The long-threatened action came after the allies concluded Iraq wouldn't cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.

In 2006, Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman died at age 94.

In 2008, the U.N. Security Council adopted its first resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in five years, calling on both sides to step up efforts for a lasting peace and stating that U.S.-brokered talks were "irreversible."

In 2010, Larry King tapes his last episode of Larry King Live after 25 years on CNN.

In 2012, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party scored a big win in parliamentary elections and Shinzo Abe was set to become prime minister for the second time. Abe officially assumed the office 10 days later.

In 2013, John Donald Cody, who operated a fake veterans charity that collected $100 million in donations, was sentenced to 28 years in prison in Ohio.

In 2014, Taliban militants attacked a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing more than 140 people, mostly children.

A thought for the day: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." -- Mahatma Gandhi