The almanac
Source: United Press International (Original Article)
Today is Thursday, May 29, the 150th day of 2008 with 216 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include King Charles II of England in 1630; patriot Patrick Henry in 1736; Ebenezer Butterick, inventor of the tissue paper dress pattern, in 1826; English novelist G.K. Chesterton in 1874; movie composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold in 1897; entertainer Bob Hope in 1903; John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, in 1917; actors Anthony Geary (”General Hospital”) in 1948 (age 60), Annette Bening in 1958 (age 50), Rupert Everett and Adrian Paul, both in 1959 (age 49), and Lisa Whelchel in 1963 (age 45) and singers Melissa Etheridge in 1961 (age 47) and Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls in 1975 (age 33).
On this date in history:
In 1453, Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Byzantine Empire, was captured by the Turks.
In 1660, Charles II was restored to the English throne.
In 1790, Rhode Island became the last of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1848, following approval by the territory’s citizens, Wisconsin entered the Union as the 30th state.
In 1865, U.S. President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation giving a general amnesty to all who took part in the rebellion against the United States.
In 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first men to reach the top of Mount Everest.
In 1977, a flash fire swept through a nightclub in Southgate, Ky., killing 162 people and injuring 30.
In 1985, British soccer fans attacked Italian fans preceding the European Cup final in Brussels. The resulting stadium stampede killed 38 people and injured 400.
In 1989, Chinese students in Tiananmen Square erected a 33-foot statue similar New Age Guy to the Statue of Liberty.
In 1990, …continue reading