Today is the 292nd day of 2012 and the 27th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1767, the boundary between Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania (the Mason-Dixon Line) was established.

In 1851, "Moby-Dick" was first published.

In 1962, Drs. James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were given the Nobel Prize in medicine/physiology, for uncovering the double-helix structure of DNA.

In 2001, four al-Qaida members were sentenced to life in prison for bombing the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000), Canadian prime minister; Jesse Helms (1921-2008), U.S. senator; Chuck Berry (1926- ), musician; Peter Boyle (1935-2006), actor; Mike Ditka (1939- ), football coach/player; Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), playwright; Martina Navratilova (1956- ), tennis player; Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960- ), actor; Wynton Marsalis (1961- ), jazz musician; Josh Gracin (1980- ), singer; Zac Efron (1987- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, after 50 seasons as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, Connie Mack announced his retirement.

TODAY'S FACT: The Mason-Dixon Line surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1767 left a "wedge" of land in dispute between Delaware and Pennsylvania until 1921.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death." -- Herman Melville, "Moby-Dick"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 41 -- record number of Grand Slam doubles (including mixed doubles) titles won by Martina Navratilova.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 15) and first quarter (Oct. 21).

Today is the 291st day of 2012 and the 26th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1931, Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

In 1933, German refugee Albert Einstein immigrated to the United States, where he would live and work for the rest of his life.

In 1989, the strongest earthquake in the United States since 1906 rocked Northern California, killing more than 60 people.

In 2006, the U.S. population topped 300 million for the first time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jean Arthur (1900-1991), actress; Arthur Miller (1915-2005), playwright/novelist; Rita Hayworth (1918-1987), actress; Beverly Garland (1926-2008), actress; Evel Knievel (1938-2007), stunt performer; Michael McKean (1947- ), actor; Mae Jemison (1956- ), scientist/astronaut; Mike Judge (1962- ), animator/writer/director; Ziggy Marley (1968- ), musician; Ernie Els (1969- ), golfer; Wyclef Jean (1969- ), singer; Eminem (1972- ), rapper.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1968, American Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were forced to return their medals for raising their fists in protest against racial discrimination during the victory ceremony.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1952, Albert Einstein was offered the post of Israeli president, which he politely declined.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets." -- Arthur Miller

TODAY'S NUMBER: 32 -- U.S. state names that end in a vowel rather than a consonant.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 15) and first quarter (Oct. 21).

Today is the 290th day of 2012 and the 25th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1859, abolitionist John Brown led some 20 men in a raid on Harpers Ferry, Va.

In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.

In 1995, hundreds of thousands of black men joined the Million Man March, led by Louis Farrakhan in Washington, D.C.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Noah Webster (1758-1843), lexicographer; Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), playwright; David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), statesman/first Israeli prime minister; Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), playwright; Angela Lansbury (1925- ), actress; Gunter Grass (1927- ), novelist; Suzanne Somers (1946- ), actress; Bob Weir (1947- ), musician; Tim Robbins (1958- ), actor; John Mayer (1977- ), musician; Bryce Harper (1992- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, the 8-year-old New York Mets won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.

TODAY'S FACT: Noah Webster's stated goal in developing American spellers and textbooks was to rescue the American "native tongue" from "the clamour of pedantry."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." -- Oscar Wilde

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9 -- countries thought to have nuclear-weapon capabilities in 2012 (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel).

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 15) and first quarter (Oct. 21).