Today is the 337th day of 2016 and the 72nd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1823, President James Monroe announced a policy aimed at preventing further European colonization of the Americas, later known as the Monroe Doctrine.

In 1927, Ford Motor Co. introduced the new Model A.

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

In 2001, the energy trading company Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In 2015, terrorists shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 in San Bernadino, California.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Georges Seurat (1859-1891), painter; Maria Callas (1923-1977), opera singer; Gianni Versace (1946-1997), fashion designer; Stone Phillips (1954- ), journalist; Ann Patchett (1963- ), author; Lucy Liu (1968- ), actress; Britney Spears (1981- ), singer; Aaron Rodgers (1983- ), football player; Charlie Puth (1991- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: 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.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers missing 22 free throws in a single game, setting an NBA record that stood until Jan. 20, 2016, when the Detroit Pistons' Andre Drummond missed 23.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It makes you wonder. All the brilliant things we might have done with our lives if only we suspected we knew how." -- Ann Patchett, "Bel Canto"

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 new moon (Nov. 29) and first quarter moon (Dec. 7).

Today is the 336th day of 2016 and the 71st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1913, the Ford Motor Company began operation of its first assembly line.

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking a new era in the civil rights movement.

In 1969, the United States instituted its first draft lottery since World War II.

In 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the United States had been in an official recession since December 2007.

In 2013, China launched Yutu, its first lunar rover.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Marie Tussaud (1761-1850), museum founder; Rex Stout (1886-1975), author; Mary Martin (1913-1990), actress; Lou Rawls (1933-2006), singer-songwriter; Woody Allen (1935- ), filmmaker; Lee Trevino (1939- ), golfer; Richard Pryor (1940-2005), actor/comedian; Bette Midler (1945- ), singer/actress; Nestor Carbonell (1967- ), actor; Sarah Silverman (1970- ), actress/comedian; Akiva Schaffer (1977- ), actor/filmmaker; DeSean Jackson (1986- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: At the time of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, about 70 percent of bus riders in the city were African-American.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1924, Brooklyn pitcher Dazzy Vance (28 wins, 2.16 ERA, 262 strikeouts) won the National League MVP award over Rogers Hornsby, who had batted .424 for the season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Rosa Parks showed us all that one little person can make a whole bunch of noise without so much as a whisper. She showed the world that the color of your skin shouldn't determine what part of the bus you sit in ... as you ride through life." -- Richard Pryor

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1.86 million -- men inducted into the U.S. armed forces between 1965 and 1973 through the Selective Service System.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Nov. 29) and first quarter moon (Dec. 7).

Today is the 335th day of 2016 and the 70th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1782, provisional articles of peace were signed in Paris between Britain and the United States, under which Britain recognized U.S. independence.

In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, a major gun-control measure.

In 1999, Exxon Corp. and Mobil. Corp. completed their merger, creating the largest publicly held oil company in the world.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), clergyman/satirist; Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910), writer; Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British politician; Dick Clark (1929-2012), TV personality/producer; Bill Walsh (1931-2007), football coach; Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989), political activist; Ridley Scott (1937- ), filmmaker; Mandy Patinkin (1952- ), singer/actor; Billy Idol (1955- ), singer-songwriter; Bo Jackson (1962- ), football and baseball player; Ben Stiller (1965- ), actor; Amy Ryan (1969- ), actress; Clay Aiken (1978- ), singer; Magnus Carlsen (1990- ), chess grandmaster.

TODAY'S FACT: Mark Twain published a number of pieces in newspapers and periodicals under a variety of pen names, including Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab and John Snooks.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, the U.S. women's soccer team defeated Norway 2-1 to win the first Women's World Cup.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "For my own part I have always felt that a politician is to be judged by the animosities which he excites among his opponents. I have always set myself not merely to relish but to deserve thoroughly their censure." -- Winston Churchill

TODAY'S NUMBER: $2,520,700 -- total winnings of Ken Jennings during his record-shattering 74-game winning streak on the TV quiz show "Jeopardy!" (not including a $2,000 consolation prize for coming in second in the final game of his streak, on this day in 2004).

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Nov. 29) and first quarter moon (Dec. 7).