Today is the 339th day of 2012 and the 74th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, George Washington bid farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.

In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt terminated the Works Progress Administration.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops to Somalia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), essayist/historian; Samuel Butler (1835-1902), novelist; Lillian Russell (1861-1922), actress; Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), poet; Francisco Franco (1892-1975), Spanish dictator; Jeff Bridges (1949- ), actor; Marisa Tomei (1964- ), actress; Jay-Z (1969- ), rapper/entrepreneur; Tyra Banks (1973- ) model/TV personality.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, Golden State Warriors basketball player Latrell Sprewell was suspended by the NBA for one year after choking the team's coach, P.J. Carlesimo, during a practice on Dec. 1, 1997.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States still does not have an embassy in Somalia.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore." -- Samuel Butler

TODYA'S NUMBER: 6,600 -- writers, including Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Studs Terkel and Richard Wright, who received financial support from the Federal Writers Project, a part of the Works Progress Administration.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Nov. 28) and last quarter moon (Dec. 6).

Today is the 338th day of 2012 and the 73rd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1818, Illinois was admitted as the 21st U.S. state.

In 1984, a leak at a Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India, killed more than 3,000 people within hours.

In 1999, NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander, just as it was scheduled to land on the planet's surface.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), novelist; Andy Williams (1927-2012), singer; Ozzy Osbourne (1948- ), musician; Julianne Moore (1960- ), actress; Andrew Stanton (1965- ), writer/animator; Brendan Fraser (1968- ), actor; Sean Parker (1979- ), entrepreneur; Amanda Seyfried (1985- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 13-7 in a game that still stands as the last time a professional football team won without completing a single pass.

TODAY'S FACT: The successful 2007-2008 Mars Phoenix mission was so named because it "rose from the ashes" of two unsuccessful earlier missions to Mars: the lost 1999 Mars Polar Lander and the canceled 2001 Mars Surveyor Lander.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense." -- Joseph Conrad

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- Illinois governors since the 1920s who have been charged with crimes that took place during or after their time in office, including George H. Ryan (1999-2003) and Rod Blagojevich (2003-2009).

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Nov. 28) and last quarter moon (Dec. 6).

Today is the 337th day of 2012 and the 72nd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1927, Ford Motor Co. introduced the new Model A.

In 1942, a team led by Enrico Fermi engineered the first controlled nuclear fission chain reaction under the stands of the University of Chicago's Stagg Field.

In 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established.

In 1988, Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan, becoming the first female leader of an Islamic nation.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Georges Seurat (1859-1891), painter; Maria Callas (1923-1977), opera singer; Harry Reid (1939- ), Senate majority leader; Gianni Versace (1946-1997), fashion designer; Ann Patchett (1963- ), writer; Lucy Liu (1968- ), actress; Monica Seles (1973- ), tennis player; Britney Spears (1981- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set an NBA record for missed free throws in a single game, missing 22 in a 133-109 win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

TODAY'S FACT: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employed a workforce of 17,278 in 2010.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." -- Henry Ford

TODAY'S NUMBER: 112 -- days Barney Clark, the recipient of the first artificial heart, lived after it was implanted on this day in 1982.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Nov. 28) and last quarter (Dec. 6).