UPI Almanac for Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023

Today is Sunday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2023 with 70 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1811; actor Sarah Bernhardt in 1844; comic actor Curly Howard in 1903; baseball Hall of Fame member Jimmie Foxx in 1907; actor Joan Fontaine in 1917; English author Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature, in 1919; psychologist/LSD advocate Timothy Leary in 1920; artist Robert Rauschenberg in 1925; actor Derek Jacobi in 1938 (age 85); civil rights activist Bobby Seale in 1936 (age 87); actor Christopher Lloyd in 1938 (age 85); actor Tony Roberts in 1939 (age 84); actor Annette Funicello in 1942; actor Catherine Deneuve in 1943 (age 80); writer Deepak Chopra in 1946 (age 77); actor Jeff Goldblum in 1952 (age 71); actor Bob Odenkirk in 1962 (age 61); champion skater Brian Boitano in 1963 (age 60); rapper Shaggy, born Orville Richard Burrell CD, in 1968 (age 55); film producer Spike Jonze in 1969 (age 54); Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki in 1973 (age 50); actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson 1975 (age 48); musician Zac Hanson in 1985 (age 38); actor Jonathan Lipnicki in 1990 (age 33); rapper 21 Savage, born Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, in 1992 (age 31); rapper Roddy Ricch, born Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., in 1998 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1797, the first silk parachute jump from a high altitude was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped in a basket released from a balloon at 3,300 feet over a Paris park.

In 1836, Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1929, Professor Irving T. Fisher, head of the Yale department of economics, said that the recent bearish stock market had about reached its bottom and an upward movement was in sight, increasing throughout next year. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 would begin just two days later.

In 1934, federal authorities fatally shot Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a fugitive suspected in the so-called Kansas City massacre in which four officers were killed.

In 1938, inventor Charles Carlson produced the first dry, or xerographic, copy. He had trouble attracting investors.

In 1962, U.S. President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles had been deployed in Cuba and ordered a blockade of the island.

In 1966, The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with Supremes a Go-Go.

In 1978, Pope John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. The new pope startled his aides on his first day when he entered a crowd of reporters and freely answered questions, forgoing more conventional and controlled interactions with journalists.

In 1983, ten U.S. warships sailed toward the violence-wracked Caribbean island of Grenada, prompting its new Marxist leaders to mobilize their forces for a possible invasion.

In 1992, pioneer sportscaster Red Barber died at age 84.

In 2001, the Pentagon announced nearly 200 U.S. jets struck Taliban and al-Qaida facilities in western Afghanistan and disputed Taliban claims that 100 civilians died when a bomb hit a hospital.

In 2009, the U.S. Congress expanded a hate-crime law to make it a federal crime to assault someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

In 2010, nearly 400,000 previously secret U.S. documents on the war in Iraq were posted on the WikiLeaks Internet website. Three months earlier, more than 75,000 undisclosed Afghan conflict documents appeared.

In 2012, the International Cycling Federation stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles amid a doping scandal.

In 2018, a device similar to a pipe bomb was discovered in the mailbox of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, the first of several attempts to send what appeared to be explosive devices to Democratic politicians such as former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Authorities arrested Cesar Sayoc for the mailings, and he pleaded guilty to 65 counts.

In 2019, Japanese Emperor Naruhito formally proclaimed his enthronement during a ceremony in Tokyo that was attended by dignitaries from around the world.

In 2022, Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy Party, was sworn in by President Sergio Mattarella as Italy's first female prime minister during a ceremony at the Quirinal Palace in Rome.

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