UPI Almanac for Thursday. Nov. 30, 2017

Today is Thursday, Nov. 30, the 334th day of 2017 with 31 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio in 1508; Irish satirist Jonathan Swift in 1667; novelist Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, in 1835; British statesman Winston Churchill in 1874; Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, in 1924; actor Robert Guillaume in 1927; producer/TV music show host Dick Clark in 1929; Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy in 1930 (age 87); 1960s radical Abbie Hoffman in 1936; filmmaker Ridley Scott in 1937 (age 80); playwright David Mamet in 1947 (age 70); singer/actor Mandy Patinkin in 1952 (age 65); singer June Pointer in 1953; rock singer Billy Idol in 1955 (age 62); historian Michael Beschloss in 1955 (age 62); Heisman Trophy winner and football Hall of Fame member Bo Jackson in 1962 (age 55); actor Ben Stiller in 1965 (age 52); singer Clay Aiken in 1978 (age 39); actor Elisha Cuthbert in 1982 (age 35); model Chrissy Teigen in 1985 (age 32); actor Kaley Cuoco in 1985 (age 32).

On this date in history:

In 1731, a series of earthquakes struck China. More than 100,000 people died.

In 1782, preliminary peace articles formally ending the American Revolutionary War were signed in Paris.

In 1913, Charles Chaplin made his screen debut in Mack Sennett's short film Making a Living.

In 1939, the Russo-Finnish War -- also known as the Winter War -- started after the Soviet Union failed to obtain territorial concessions from Finland. The war started with the bombing of Helsinki.

In 1954, a meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Ala., striking Elizabeth Hodges, who was sleeping on a couch, in the hip. The space rock was a sulfide meteorite weighing 8.5 pounds and measuring 7 inches in length.

In 1975, Israel pulled out of a 93-mile-long corridor along the Gulf of Suez as part of an interim peace agreement with Egypt. Israel captured oil fields along the corridor in the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

In 1988, the Soviet Union stopped jamming broadcasts of Radio Free Europe for the first time in 30 years.

In 1989, serial killer Aileen Wuornos killed her first of seven victims in Volusia County, Fla., Richard Mallory. She claimed self-defense, but was convicted of murder and executed in 2002.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law, the most far-reaching nationwide gun control measure enacted in a decade. It was named after White House press secretary James Brady, who was injured in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

In 2004, Ken Jennings lost on the U.S. game show Jeopardy! after winning 74 games and $2.5 million.

In 2005, the world's first partial-face transplant was conducted in France. A woman who had been bitten by a dog was given a new nose, lips and chin.

In 2007, an Atlasjet Airlines plane crashed near the Ispart, Turkey, airport, killing all 56 people aboard.

In 2012, demonstrations erupted in Cairo soon after lawmakers passed a Constitutional Declaration that gave President Mohamed Morsi near-absolute power. Morsi would be ousted by the military seven months later.

In 2013, a fiery car crash in Southern California killed actor Paul Walker, 40, and his friend, Roger Rodas. Walker was perhaps best-known for his starring role in the "The Fast & the Furious" movie series.

A thought for the day: "If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead." -- Erma Bombeck