UPI Almanac for Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018

Today is Saturday, Nov. 17, the 321st day of 2018 with 45 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include King Louis XVIII of France in 1755; German astronomer/mathematician August Mobius in 1790; social reformer Grace Abbott in 1878; actor Rock Hudson in 1925; balladeer Gordon Lightfoot in 1938 (age 80); film director Martin Scorsese in 1942 (age 76); model/actor Lauren Hutton in 1943 (age 75); actor/director Danny DeVito in 1944 (age 74); Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels in 1944 (age 74); baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver in 1944 (age 74); basketball Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim in 1944 (age 74); former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 1949 (age 69); civil rights leader/actor Yolanda King in 1955; actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in 1958 (age 60); model/actor RuPaul in 1960 (age 58); former U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice in 1964 (age 54); actor Daisy Fuentes in 1966 (age 52); singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley in 1966; singer Ronnie DeVoe in 1967 (age 51); actor David Ramsey in 1971 (age 47); actor Rachel McAdams in 1978 (age 40); writer Christopher Paolini in 1983 (age 35); actor Raquel Castro in 1994 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1558, the Elizabethan Age begins when Britain's Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne upon her half-sister, Queen Mary's death.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress convened at the Capitol in Washington for the first time.

In 1869, the Suez Canal in Egypt was opened, linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

In 1871, the National Rifle Association was founded by a journalist and a lawyer with a mission to improve its member's marksmanship skills through the organization of rifle clubs across the country.

In 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two factions: The Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority"), led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks (Russian for "minority"), led by Julius Martov. The Bolsheviks would eventually morph into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1968, NBC angered football fans across the United States when it pre-empted the final minute of an Oakland Raiders-New York Jets game to air children's movie Heidi. Viewers jammed the phone lines at telephone companies, the network and local police to vent their frustrations.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon uttered the infamous words, "I am not a crook," in response to reporters' questions about the Watergate scandal.

In 1989, Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution began following the put down of a student demonstration by riot police. A larger uprising against the country's communist government succeeds on Dec. 29, ending 41 years of Communist rule.

In 1993, by a vote of 234-200, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants, ending a 14-year moratorium on them.

In 2013, Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died in London at the age of 94.

In 2015, actor Charlie Sheen confirmed he was HIV positive after he said extortionists demanded money in exchange for keeping his secret.

A thought for the day: "There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth." -- Doris Lessing