The Almanac
Today is Saturday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2016 with 329 to follow. The
moon is waning. Morning stars are Mercury and Venus. Evening stars are
Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. Those born on this date are
under the sign of Aquarius. They include England's Queen Anne in 1665;
statesman Aaron Burr in 1756; Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart in 1833;
baseball great George Herman Babe Ruth in 1895; former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan in 1911; Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler, in 1912;
actor Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1917 (age 99), actor Patrick Macnee in 1922;
actor Rip Torn in 1931; actor Mamie Van Doren in 1931 (age 85); French
film director Francois Truffaut in 1932; actor Mike Farrell in 1939
(age 77); TV newsman Tom Brokaw in 1940 (age 76); handgun control
activist Sarah Brady in 1942 (age 74); singer Fabian Forte in 1943 (age
73); actor Michael Tucker in 1945 (age 71); Jamaican reggae
singer/songwriter Bob Marley in 1945; singer Natalie Cole in 1950;
actor Kevin Whately in 1951 (age 65); actor/director Robert Townsend in
1957 (age 59); actor Kathy Najimy in 1957 (age 59); singer W. Axl Rose
in 1962 (age 54); actor Alice Eve in 1982 (age 34). On this date in
history: In 1819, Singapore was founded with the establishment of a
British East India Co. trading post. In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was
appointed commander in chief of the armies of the Confederacy. In 1943,
U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of Allied
expeditionary forces in North Africa. In 1952, Princess Elizabeth
became sovereign of Great Britain upon the death of her father, King
George VI. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953. In 1987,
broad no-smoking rules took effect for 890,000 employees in 6,800 U.S.
federal buildings nationwide. In 1992, a military transport plane
crashed into a restaurant and hotel in Evansville, Ind., killing 16
people. In 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel. In
2004, a female suicide bomber detonated explosives in a suitcase on a
Moscow subway car, killing 39 people and injuring about 200. In 2006,
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress that President
George W. Bush was within his legal rights when he authorized
warrantless surveillance of people in the United States by the National
Security Agency. In 2013, a Public Policy Polling survey indicated U.S.
voters were more likely to view an endorsement by the National Rifle
Association negatively than positively. A thought for the day: U.S.
President Ronald Reagan said, You can accomplish much if you don't care
who gets the credit. .
