ALMANAC OCTOBER-NOVEMBER2000

OCTOBER 

2 Mahatma (Mohandas Karamchand) Gandhi born this day in 1869.

3 Death of Miles Standish in 1656.

4 St. Francis of Assisi's day; Sputnik becomes the first object launched into outer space, 1957.

5 FIRST QUARTER MOON, 6:59 A.M. EDT.

6 Binoculars show the double star Alpha Librae just north of brilliant Venus in southwest sky at dusk.

8 Great Chicago Fire this day and next, 1871.

9 Columbus Day (observed); Yom Kippur; Thanksgiving (in Canada); Native Americans Day (in South Dakota); Leif Eriksson Day (see story ).

10 15.68" of rain fell on Enid, Oklahoma this day in 1973; U.S. Naval Academy in Anapolis, Maryland, founded in 1845.

11 Pulaski Memorial Day observed in several states in honor of General Casimir Pulaski, native of Poland and American Revolutionary War hero; Eleanor Roosevelt born, 1884.

12 Columbus. Day (traditional) - Columbus Day was first made a holiday in1892.

13 FULL MOON, 4:53 A.M. EDT; Hunter's moon; Friday the 13th - the only time it occurs this year.

14 Succoth; National Friendship Day; William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, born in 1644; Dwight Eisenhower born this day in 1890; 24" of rain fell in 24 hours in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (1965).

15 Moon rises beside Saturn this evening; devastating Hurricane Hazel made landfall at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this day in 1954; Roman poet Virgil, author of the epic The Aeneid, supposedly born this day in 70 B.C.

16 Lovely triangle of moon, Jupiter and star Aldebaran rises in evening tonight.

17 First Oktoberfest held this day in 1810 to celebrate the wedding day of King Ludwig I.

18 Day of St. Luke and start of St. Luke's Little Summer (a kind of European relative of America's Indian summer); Alaska Day; 48" of early-season, lake-effect snow fell just south of Buffalo this day 70 years ago.

19 Day of St. Peter of Alcantara, patron saint of night watchmen.

20 LAST QUARTER MOON, 3:59 P.M. EDT; Jupiter four-and-a-half degrees (less than half the width of your fist at arm's length) north of Aldebaran - second in a series of three conjunctions of the planet and star; observers far from city lights should look for a few Orionid meteors from the east and southeast in the late evening, before moonrise, tonight.