ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 270th day of 2019 and the fifth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1908, the first Model T automobile left the Ford factory in Detroit.

In 1954, "Tonight Starring Steve Allen," the late-night talk show that eventually became "The Tonight Show," premiered on NBC.

In 1962, Rachel Carson's environmental science book "Silent Spring" was published.

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

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Nast (1840-1902), cartoonist; Jim Thompson (1906-1977), author; Jayne Meadows (1919-2015), actress; Arthur Penn (1922-2010), filmmaker; Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (1924-1966), jazz pianist; Wilford Brimley (1934- ), actor; Dick Schaap (1934-2001), sportscaster; Meat Loaf (1947- ), singer-songwriter; Shaun Cassidy (1958- ), singer/actor; Gwyneth Paltrow (1972- ), actress; Lil Wayne (1982- ), rapper; Avril Lavigne (1984- ), singer.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, served as the U.S. capital for one day, as the Continental Congress met there in the wake of the British capture of Philadelphia.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 69th and 70th home runs in the last game of his record-setting season. McGwire admitted to steroid use in 2010.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I told her the world was full of nice people. I'd have hated to try to prove it to her, but I said it, anyway." -- Jim Thompson, "A Hell of a Woman"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 8 -- inches of annual precipitation in the coastal regions of Antarctica. The inland portion of Antarctica receives even less, qualifying the continent as a desert.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 21) and new moon (Sept. 28).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 269th day of 2019 and the fourth 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, Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts met in the first televised presidential debate.

In 1983, Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov correctly dismissed an early warning system report of an American nuclear missile launch as a computer error.

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

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Johnny Appleseed (1774-1845), environmentalist; Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), physiologist; Winsor McCay (1867-1934), animator/cartoonist; T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), writer; George Gershwin (1898-1937), composer; Jack LaLanne (1914-2011), fitness expert; Marty Robbins (1925-1982), singer-songwriter; Olivia Newton-John (1948- ), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S FACT: "Abbey Road," the last album for which all four members of The Beatles participated in the recording sessions, was released on this day in 1969.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club's Australia II won the America's Cup, becoming the first non-American winner in the cup's 132-year history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time." -- T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 732 -- performances of "West Side Story" during its original Broadway run, which opened on this day in 1957 and closed on June 27, 1959.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 21) and new moon (Sept. 28).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 268th day of 2019 and the third day of autumn.

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

In 1789, Congress approved the 10 constitutional amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification.

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

In 2005, the Irish Republican Army officially disarmed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Faulkner (1897-1962), author; Walter "Red" Smith (1905-1982), sportswriter; Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), baseball player; Barbara Walters (1929- ), TV journalist; Shel Silverstein (1930-1999), author; Michael Douglas (1944- ), actor; Mark Hamill (1951- ), actor; Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor; Heather Locklear (1961- ), actress; Scottie Pippen (1965- ), basketball player; Will Smith (1968- ), actor/rapper; Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ), actress; T.I. (1980- ), rapper; Donald Glover (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Of the 163 nominations to the Supreme Court since 1789, 12 were rejected by the Senate.

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

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sin and love and fear are just sounds that people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have until they forget the words." -- William Faulkner, "As I Lay Dying"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $813 million -- estimated total cost of the Mars Observer mission, launched on this day in 1992. The probe failed eleven months later, three days prior to its orbital insertion around Mars.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 21) and new moon (Sept. 28).