The Almanac
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 23, the 236th day of 2016 with 130 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars
are Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Neptune. Those born on this date
are under the sign of Virgo. They include French King Louis XVI in
1754; British economist Arnold Toynbee in 1852; poet and novelist Edgar
Lee Masters in 1868; British radio pioneer William Eccles in 1875; Gen.
Jonathan Wainwright, hero of Bataan in World War II, in 1883; humorist
Will Cuppy in 1884; cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller (creator of Nancy ) in
1905; dancer/actor/director Gene Kelly in 1912; bandleader/singer Bob
Crosby in 1913; baseball Hall of Fame member George Kell in 1922; actor
Vera Miles in 1930 (age 86); actor Barbara Eden in 1931 (age 85);
political comedian Mark Russell in 1932 (age 84); football Hall of Fame
member Sonny Jurgensen in 1934 (age 82); drummer Keith Moon (The Who)
in 1946; actor Shelley Long in 1949 (age 67); singer/actor Rick
Springfield in 1949 (age 67); Jordan's Queen Noor in 1951 (age 65);
actor Jay Mohr in 1970 (age 46); actor River Phoenix in 1970; pro
basketball star Kobe Bryant in 1978 (age 38); Olympic gold
medal-winning swimmer Natalie Coughlin in 1982 (age 34). On this date
in history: In 1926, silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino died. In
1927, despite worldwide demonstrations on their behalf, Italian-born
anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for
murder. In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a
non-aggression pact. Less than two years later, Germany launched a
blitzkrieg attack on Russia. In 1982, Beirut Christian leader Beshir
Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon. He was assassinated less than
one month later and was succeeded by his brother Amin. In 2008, U.S.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois confirmed he chose fellow Sen. Joe Biden
of Delaware as his vice presidential running mate at the top of the
Democratic Party ticket. In 2010, rescue workers at a caved-in gold and
copper mine in northern Chile made contact with 33 men trapped nearly
2,300 feet underground for 17 days who had found refuge in a small
emergency shelter that had water and ventilation. In an unrelenting
effort, all hands were rescued two months later. In 2011, a 5.8
magnitude earthquake, unusually strong for the eastern United States,
rattled Washington and Virginia with shockwaves as far north as Canada.
The quake was the strongest to hit Virginia in more than a century,
briefly causing a power shutdown at a nuclear plant. The Washington
Monument and National Cathedral in Washington were damaged by the
quake. In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, if
elected, he would replace longtime Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke and appoint someone who shared my economic views. In 2013,
Nidal Malik Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding
dozens of others in a November 2009 gunfire attack at the Fort Hood
Army post in Texas. He was later sentenced to death. In 2014, the NBA's
Cleveland Cavaliers, who reacquired four-time league MVP Lebron James
in June, added Kevin Love, another big star, to their lineup. Love left
the Minnesota Timberwolves and joined the Cavs in a three-team deal
that also involved the Philadelphia 76ers. A thought for the day: Don't
tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them
surprise you with their results. -- Gen. George S. Patton .
