2014 Event Almost 200 nations at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Peru join an emissions reduction accord requiring each nation to post its plan online in 2015; the public can then pressure noncompliant nations to keep and strengthen their commitments 2014 Event Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange; its pre-IPO market valuation of almost $168 billion exceeds that of American e-commerce giant Amazon by over $17 billion 2014 Event General Motors announces the recall of almost 3.4 additional vehicles for safety issues, bringing the current year recall total to almost 6 million; GM CEO Mary Barra has been keeping the U.S. Congress informed of the company's corrective actions 2014 Event The Brazilian government plans to cut its spending by almost $19 billion this year in an effort to reduce the country's debt and inflation growth; economists have revised current year GDP and next year's growth forecast downward in recent weeks 2013 Event Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former President, is released after spending almost three months in a Pretoria hospital 2012 Event New findings from MESSENGER, NASA's space probe, indicate almost definitively, that the north pole of Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, has water ice buried beneath the surface 2011 Event The U.S. state of Arizona has an enormous wildfire covering almost 500 square miles; it is not contained and is sending smoke across several other states 2009 Event Six people sentenced to death over ethnic rioting in July that killed almost 200 in the region of Xinjiang 2003 Death Kamato Hongo, old man, world's oldest well-documented man for almost four years, dies at 116 1993 Death Edwin Louis Battle, actor (Almost Blue, Chase), dies of stroke at 33 1987 Event "Didn't We Almost Have It All," by Whitney Houston hits #1 1982 Event NBC radio cancels almost all of its network daily features 1982 Event Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 1st visit to U.S. in almost 11 years 1981 Event Almost 1 million West German metal workers in strike 1979 Birthday Kate Hudson, born in Los Angeles, California, actress, Academy-Award nominee for movie, 'Almost Famous', other films include 'Raising Helen', 'Nine' 1977 Event President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders 1973 Event New York Times reports almost all Superfectas run at Yonkers, Roosevelt and Monticello from Jan-Mar of 1973 were fixed 1971 Event Sci-fi soap opera "Dark Shadows" concludes an almost 5 year run 1968 Birthday Billy Crudup, born in Manhattan, New York, actor, appeared in film, 'Dedication', 'Watchmen', 'Public Enemies', 'Almost Famous', 'Big Fish' 1965 Event Dick McInnes stays aloft almost 12 hours in a kite 1956 Event East Germany frees almost 19,000 prisoners 1955 Event "Almost Crazy" closes at Longacre Theater New York City after 16 performances 1955 Event "Almost Crazy" opens at Longacre Theater New York City for 16 performances 1945 Event Almost 1000 Flying Fortresses drop 3000 ton bombs on Berlin 1943 Event Greatest tank battle in history ends with Russia's defeat of Germany at Kursk, almost 6,000 tanks take part, 2,900 were lost by Germany 1935 Birthday David Houston, born in Bossier City, Louisiana, singer, country music, recorded hit 'Almost Pursuaded', and 'With One Exception', 'My Elusive Dreams' with Tammy Wynette 1930 Birthday Charlie Jones, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, sportscaster, Almost Anything Goes 1915 Event Battle of Loos, almost 430,000 French, British and Germans killed 1913 Event Dayton, Ohio almost destroyed when Scioto, Miami, and Muskingum River reach flood stage simultaneously 1902 Event Leopold II, King of Belgium almost assassinated by Italian anarchist 1896 Event Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for 1st time in 50 yrs 1895 Birthday Louise Fazenda, Lafayette, Indiana, actress/comedienne, Almost an actress 1879 Event F. W. Woolworth opens 1st store, failed almost immediately 1575 Event Spanish troops conquer Oudewater, almost all inhabitants died
