UPI Almanac for Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 12, the 346th day of 2017 with 19 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Venus. The evening stars are Mercury and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include French novelist Gustave Flaubert in 1821; Norwegian painter Edvard Munch in 1863; actor Edward G. Robinson in 1893; English writer Patrick O'Brian in 1914; singer/actor Frank Sinatra in 1915; TV game show host Bob Barker in 1923 (age 94); former New York Mayor Edward Koch in 1924; basketball Hall of Fame member Bob Pettit in 1932 (age 85); singer Connie Francis in 1938 (age 79); singer Dionne Warwick in 1940 (age 77); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Dickey Betts in 1943 (age 74); actor Bill Nighy in 1949 (age 68); former Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby in 1952 (age 65); musician Sheila E. in 1957 (age 60); former tennis star Tracy Austin in 1962 (age 55); actor Jennifer Connelly in 1970 (age 47); actor Regina Hall in 1970 (age 47); actor Mayim Bialik in 1975 (age 42); actor Lincoln Melcher in 2003 (age 14).

In this date in history:

In 1870, Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Carolina was sworn in as the first African-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1901, Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1913, two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was recovered in a Florence, Italy, hotel room.

In 1917, the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan, a 31-year-old Irish priest, opened the doors to Boys Town, a home for troubled and neglected children in Omaha. He lived by the adage, "There is no such thing as a bad boy."

In 1975, Sara Jane Moore said she willfully tried to kill U.S. President Gerald Ford. She was sentenced to life in prison but released Dec. 31, 2007.

In 1980, a U.S. oil tycoon spent $5 million at auction for a notebook written by Leonardo da Vinci. The 36 pages of notes featured "remarkably illegible right-to-left writing" and was "illustrated with marginal sketches of a technical nature."

In 1985, the crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285, a military charter, on takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, killed all 256 people aboard, including 248 U.S. soldiers.

In 2003, Paul Martin became Canada's 21st prime minister, succeeding Jean Chretien.

In 2005, Gibran Tueni, an anti-Syrian member of the Lebanese Parliament and head of a leading Lebanon newspaper, was killed in an explosion that tore through his armored car outside Beirut.

In 2006, a Baghdad suicide bomber, luring unemployed Iraqis to his truck with promises of work, killed at least 70 people and injured more than 220 others.

In 2012, South Korean authorities said North Korea, defying international warnings and a U.N. resolution, fired a long-range test rocket.

In 2013, North Korea announced the execution of Jang Song Thaek, an uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, for trying to overthrow the government. Jang, until recently, had been considered one of the most powerful figures in the country.

In 2015, Saudis elected women to municipal councils for the first time in Saudi Arabian history.

In 2016, newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte admitted he personally killed drug suspects while mayor of Davao City, prompting human rights activists to call for an investigation.

A thought for the day: "Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise." -- Sigmund Freud