The Almanac
Today is Monday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2017 with 328 to follow. The
moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. Evening
stars are Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus. 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, actor Patrick Macnee in 1922; actor Rip
Torn in 1931; actor Mamie Van Doren in 1931 (age 86); French film
director Francois Truffaut in 1932; actor Mike Farrell in 1939 (age
78); TV newsman Tom Brokaw in 1940 (age 77); handgun control activist
Sarah Brady in 1942 (age 75); singer Fabian Forte in 1943 (age 74);
actor Michael Tucker in 1945 (age 72); Jamaican reggae
singer/songwriter Bob Marley in 1945; singer Natalie Cole in 1950;
actor Kevin Whately in 1951 (age 66); actor/director Robert Townsend in
1957 (age 60); actor Kathy Najimy in 1957 (age 60); singer W. Axl Rose
in 1962 (age 55); actor Alice Eve in 1982 (age 35). 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. In 2016, a magnitude 6.4
earthquake rocked Taiwan, leaving at least 117 dead and 550 people
injured when several buildings collapsed. A thought for the day: U.S.
President Ronald Reagan said, You can accomplish much if you don't care
who gets the credit. .
