The Almanac
Today is Saturday, Sept. 24, the 268th day of 2016 with 98 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Uranus and Venus.
Evening stars are Mercury, Neptune and Saturn. Those born on this date
are under the sign of Libra. They include English novelist Horace
Walpole in 1717; Irish brewmaster Arthur Guinness in 1725; John
Marshall, fourth chief justice of the United States, in 1755; French
chemist Georges Claude, inventor of the neon lamp, in 1870; candy
company founder Franklin Mars in 1883; golf Hall of Fame member Tommy
Armour in 1894; novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1896; sports announcer
Jim McKay in 1921; actor/singer Sheila MacRae in 1924; actor/singer
Anthony Newley in 1931; Muppet creator Jim Henson in 1936;
singer/photographer Linda Eastman McCartney, wife of former Beatle Paul
McCartney, in 1941; television commentator Lou Dobbs in 1945 (age 71);
football Hall of Fame member Mean Joe Greene in 1946 (age 70); actor
Gordon Clapp in 1948 (age 68); comedian Phil Hartman in 1948; actor
Kevin Sorbo in 1958 (age 58); gymnasts Morgan and Paul Hamm in 1982
(age 34). On this date in history: The Judiciary Act of 1789 was passed
by Congress and signed by President George Washington, establishing the
Supreme Court of the United States as a tribunal made up of six
justices who were to serve on the court until death or retirement. The
number of justices became nine in 1869. In 1929, aviator James
Doolittle demonstrated the first blind takeoff and landing, using only
instruments to guide his aircraft. In 1942, as World War II raged,
popular bandleader Glenn Miller ended his long-running radio show and
announced he was going into the U.S. Army. He was succeeded on radio by
Harry James. In 1957, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the
101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Ark., to enforce the Supreme
Court's desegregation decision. In 1959, U.S. President Dwight
Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev met at Camp David, Md.
In 1986, the U.S. Congress adopted the rose as the national flower. In
1998, Iran's foreign minister announced the country had dropped its
1989 call for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic
Verses, which many Muslims found blasphemous. In 2007, about 73,000
members of the United Auto Workers went on strike against General
Motors after contract negotiations bogged down over wages and benefits.
(The walkout ended within two days.) In 2009, the discovery of a
treasure trove of more than 1,500 finely crafted gold, silver and
copper artifacts, found with a metal detector and believed buried by
seventh-century Anglo-Saxon rulers, was termed one of most important in
British archaeological history. In 2013, authorities in southwest
Pakistan said a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Balochistan province killed
at least 500 people and destroyed hundreds of houses throughout the
region. In 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking at the United
Nations, said countries must band together to destroy the network of
death of Islamic State terrorists. No God condones this terror, Obama
said. No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning
-- no negotiation -- with this brand of evil. The only language
understood by killers like this is the language of force. A thought for
the day: Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, said, The most
sophisticated people I know -- inside they are all children. .
