UPI Almanac for Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 11, the 345th day of 2018 with 20 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Pope Leo X in 1475; U.S. statesman George Mason in 1725; New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1882; actor Vampira, born Maila Nurmi, in 1922; football Hall of Fame member Doc Blanchard in 1924; blues Hall of Fame member Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, in 1926; actor Rita Moreno (first performer to win an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy) in 1931 (age 87); singer David Gates in 1940 (age 78); former Secretary of State John Kerry in 1943 (age 75); actor Teri Garr in 1944 (age 74); singer Brenda Lee in 1944 (age 74); actor Donna Mills in 1940 (age 78); actor Bess Armstrong in 1953 (age 65); Rock and Roll Hall of Famer member Jermaine Jackson in 1954 (age 64); rock musician Nikki Sixx, born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, in 1958 (age 60); actor Mo'Nique, born Monique Angela Hicks, in 1967 (age 51); actor Mos Def, born Yasiin Bey, in 1973 (age 45); actor Rider Strong in 1979 (age 39); actor Karla Souza in 1985 (age 33); actor Hailee Steinfeld in 1996 (age 22).

On this date in history:

In 1816, Indiana joined the United States as its 19th state.

In 1936, Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson. His brother succeeded to the throne as King George VI.

In 1941, four days after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

In 1946, UNICEF was established.

In 1951, Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from baseball.

In 1964, Ernesto "Che" Guevara addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

In 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon. It was the final Apollo lunar landing. Ron Evans was the command module pilot and Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt walked on the surface during the mission. Cernan was the last to re-enter their lunar module -- the last man on the moon.

In 1984, a nativity scene was displayed near the White House for the first time since courts ordered it removed in 1973.

In 1994, up to 40,000 Russian troops invaded Chechnya, a semi-autonomous Republic on Russia's border with Georgia, to put down a secessionist rebellion.

In 1995, two Japanese cult members admitted they released toxic sarin gas in Tokyo subway trains that killed 12 people in March.

In 2001, the United States filed its first charges in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, accusing Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, of conspiring with others to carry out the assault.

In 2004, Vienna doctors treating the mystery illness of Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko determined he was poisoned with dioxin while campaigning for president.

In 2006, Jewish groups worldwide expressed anger as Iran opened a two-day conference in Tehran to determine if the Holocaust was reality or myth.

In 2008, Bernard Madoff, an investment manager, was arrested and charged with defrauding clients of up to $50 billion in what may have been the largest swindle in Wall Street history. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials said he ran a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. In June 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

In 2010, police said Mark Madoff, the 46-year-old eldest son of convicted multibillion-dollar Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, hanged himself in his New York apartment on the second anniversary of his father's arrest.

In 2017, Akayed Ullah detonated a pipe bomb in a subway near New York City's Port Authority, injuring four people. He was found guilty on weapons and terrorism charges.

A thought for the day: "Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." -- George Bernard Shaw