UPI Almanac for Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Today is Saturday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2017 with 43 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include French physicist Louis Daguerre, inventor of daguerreotype photography, in 1787; journalist Dorothy Dix in 1861; pollster George Gallup in 1901; astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, in 1923; actor Brenda Vaccaro in 1939 (age 78); actor David Hemmings in 1941; actor Linda Evans in 1942 (age 75); writer Alan Dean Foster in 1946 (age 71); actor Jameson Parker in 1947 (age 70); football Hall of Fame member Jack Tatum in 1948; actor Kevin Nealon in 1953 (age 64); actor Oscar Nunez in 1958 (age 59); actor Elizabeth Perkins in 1960 (age 57); TV writer and producer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) in 1961 (age 56); guitarist Kirk Hammett (Metallica) in 1962 (age 55); actor Owen Wilson in 1968 (age 49); television news commentator Megyn Kelly in 1970 (age 47); actor-comedian Mike Epps in 1970 (age 47); actor Chloe Sevigny in 1974 (age 43); Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz in 1975 (age 42); rapper Fabolous, born John David Jackson, in 1977 (age 40); actor Damon Wayans, Jr. in 1982 (age 35); actor Jake Abel in 1987 (age 30); actor Nathan Kress in 1992 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1883, the United States adopted Standard Time and set up four zones -- Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific.

In 1928, Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time, with Walt Disney doing the voice of his soon-to-be-famous creation, in Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon produced.

In 1936, the fascist governments of Germany and Italy recognized rebel Gen. Francisco Franco as leader of Spain amid the Spanish Civil War. Franco ruled the country until he died in 1975.

In 1961, weary of ordering a full-scale deployment of troops, President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisers to South Vietnam.

In 1963, push-button telephones made their debut.

In 1969, Kennedy clan patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy, passed away at his Hyannis Port home at the age of 81.

In 1978, more than 900 people died in a mass suicide-murder led by the Rev. Jim Jones at the People's Temple commune in Guyana following the slaying of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan, D-Calif. It was the worst tragedy of its kind in modern history.

In 1987, a fire under a wooden escalator in London's King's Cross subway station killed 30 people and injured dozens others. Debris under the escalator caused the blaze.

In 1991, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim faction Islamic Jihad freed Church of England envoy Terry Waite and U.S. professor Thomas Sutherland. Waite had been held for nearly five years, Sutherland for more than six.

In 1999, 12 people died in the collapse of the Aggie Bonfire at Texas A&M University. It was a tradition at the school to construct the bonfire before A&M played Texas in football.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, declares the state's ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, guaranteeing gay couple the right to marry.

In 2004, Britain outlawed fox hunting in England and Wales.

In 2006, Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes in a lavish ceremony at a 15th-century castle in Italy. They would have a daughter, Suri, and divorce six years later.

In 2011, British boy band One Direction released its first album, Up All Night. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

In 2013, the Dow Jones industrial average topped 16,000 for the first time.

A thought for the day: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson