Astronomy

Today is Monday, Sept. 29th, the 272nd day of 2014 with 93 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Evening stars are Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Spanish poet-novelist Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in 1547; Italian artist Caravaggio in 1571; Adm. Horatio Nelson, British naval hero, in 1758; pioneer nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi in 1901; actor Greer Garson in 1904; singing movie cowboy Gene Autry in 1907; film directors Michelangelo Antonioni in 1912 and Stanley Kramer in 1913; actors Trevor Howard in 1913 and Anita Ekberg in 1931 (age 83); British writer Colin Dexter in 1930 (age 84); rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis in 1935 (age 79); former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 1936 (age 78); actor Larry Linville and singer/songwriter Tommy Boyce, both in 1939; actors Madeline Kahn and Ian McShane (age 72), both in 1942; Polish leader Lech Walesa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in 1943 (age 71); composer Mike Post in 1944 (age 70); TV personality Bryant Gumbel and rock guitarist Mark Farner, both in 1948 (age 66); Olympic gold medal-winning runner Sebastian Coe in 1956 (age 58); and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 1961 (age 53).

On this date in history:

In 1789, the U.S. War Department organized the country's first standing army -- 700 soldiers who would serve for three years.

In 1923, Britain began to govern Palestine under a League of Nations mandate.

In 1936, in the U.S. presidential race between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Alf Landon, the Democratic and Republican parties used radio for the first time.

In 1941, the Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children began on the outskirts of Kiev in Nazi-occupied Ukraine.

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