UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2019 with 41 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Pope Pius VIII in 1761; Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, first commissioner of baseball, in 1866; astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1889; U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., in 1925; actor Kaye Ballard in 1925; actor Estelle Parsons in 1927 (age 92); author Don DeLillo in 1936 (age 83); musician/comedian Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers in 1939 (age 80); former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in 1942 (age 77); actor Veronica Hamel in 1943 (age 76); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Duane Allman in 1946; Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I in 1946 (age 73); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Joe Walsh in 1947 (age 72); former national security adviser John Bolton in 1948 (age 71); actor/model Bo Derek in 1956 (age 63); Goodluck Jonathan, former president of Nigeria, in 1957 (age 62); actor Sean Young in 1959 (age 60); actor Ming-Na Wen in 1963 (age 56); actor Joel McHale in 1971 (age 48); country singer Dierks Bentley in 1975 (age 44); U.S. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Dawes in 1976 (age 43); rapper Future, born Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, in 1983 (age 36); actor Jeremy Jordan in 1984 (age 35); actor Demetrius Shipp Jr. in 1988 (age 31).

On this date in history:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1910, the Plan de San Luis Potosi was issued by Francisco I. Madero calling for the overthrow of the Mexican government led by Porfirio Diaz. This marked the beginning of the 10-year Mexican Revolution.

In 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II of England, married Philip Mountbatten.

In 1969, the Occupation of Alcatraz began as Native American activists seized control of the island prison. It took 19 months to remove the activists from the rock.

In 1975, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain died.

In 1986, the World Health Organization announced a coordinated global effort against AIDS. WHO said there were 34,448 reported cases of AIDS worldwide.

In 1992, fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew helped save priceless artworks and other valuables kept in the castle.

In 1998, Zarya, the first module that would make up the International Space Station, was launched from Kazakhstan.

In 2007, Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister who led his South African white-minority government through a violence-wracked era until the end of white rule in 1979, died at 88 after a long illness.

In 2009, Hamid Karzai was sworn in, to begin his second five-year term as president of Afghanistan vowing his army would have full control of the country's security by the time he left office.

In 2012, Church of England elders, in a close vote, decided not to allow women to become bishops.

In 2014, President Barack Obama took executive action to grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. His order created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans programs.

In 2017, engineers used 4,000 pounds of explosives and 6 miles of wiring to take down Atlanta's Georgia Dome. When it opened in 1992, it was the largest covered stadium in the world.

A thought for the day: "The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else." -- American author Edith Wharton