Today is the 271st day of 2012 and the sixth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1954, "Tonight!" premiered on TV with its original host, Steve Allen.

In 1964, the Warren Commission report was released, stating that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

In 1990, David Souter was confirmed as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jayne Meadows (1920- ), actress; Arthur Penn (1922-2010), filmmaker; Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (1924-1966), jazz pianist; Wilford Brimley (1934- ), actor; Meat Loaf (1947- ), singer; Shaun Cassidy (1958- ), singer/actor; Gwyneth Paltrow (1972- ), actress; Avril Lavigne (1984- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 69th and 70th home runs in the last game of his record-setting season.

TODAY'S FACT: Most of Antarctica is classified as a desert because the majority of the continent receives less than 10 inches of precipitation annually.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nothing is better than the unintended humor of reality." -- Steve Allen

TODAY'S NUMBER: 140,000 -- Polish troops taken prisoner by the Germans after the surrender of Warsaw on this date in 1939.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).

Today is the 270th day of 2012 and the fifth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was named the first U.S. secretary of state and John Jay was named the first chief justice of the United States.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met in the first televised presidential debate.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the NC-17 rating, which was intended to replace the stigmatized X rating for films intended for viewers aged 17 and older.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), poet/playwright; George Gershwin (1898-1937), composer; Jack LaLanne (1914-2011), fitness expert; Olivia Newton-John (1948- ), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club's Australia II won the America's Cup. It was the first win by a non-American yacht in the cup's 132-year history.

TODAY'S FACT: Public opinion polls showed that those who had listened to the radio broadcast of the first Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960 thought Nixon was the victor, while those who watched the debate on television overwhelmingly thought Kennedy had won.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." -- John F. Kennedy

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 -- X-rated films ever nominated for the best picture Academy Award. "Midnight Cowboy" is the only X-rated film ever to win the Oscar.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).

Today is the 269th day of 2012 and the fourth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

In 1957, U.S. Army troops stood guard as black students were admitted to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., for the first time.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female Supreme Court justice.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Faulkner (1897-1962), novelist/short-story writer; Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905-1982), sportswriter; Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), baseball player; Barbara Walters (1929- ), TV journalist; Michael Douglas (1944- ), actor; Mark Hamill (1951- ), actor; Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor; Michael Madsen (1957- ), actor; Scottie Pippen (1965- ), basketball player; Will Smith (1968- ), actor/rapper; Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ), actress; Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr. (1980- ), rapper.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1882, Providence and Worcester competed in Major League Baseball's first doubleheader.

TODAY'S FACT: Of 158 nominations to the Supreme Court between 1789 and 2010, 12 were rejected by the Senate.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A mule will labor ten years willingly and patiently for you, for the privilege of kicking you once." -- William Faulkner

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7.8 million -- area (in square miles) of the Southern Ocean, which was delimited in 2000 and includes portions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).