ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 290th day of 2020 and the 25th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

In 1923, brothers Walt and Roy Disney founded Walt Disney Productions (now known as The Walt Disney Company) in Los Angeles.

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 (1927-2015), author; Suzanne Somers (1946- ), actress; Bob Weir (1947- ), musician; Tim Robbins (1958- ), actor; Manute Bol (1962-2010), basketball player/activist; John Mayer (1977- ), singer-songwriter; Bryce Harper (1992- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1986, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner reached the summit of Lhotse in Nepal, becoming the first climber to ascend all 14 of the world's "eight-thousanders" -- mountain peaks more than 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) above sea level.

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

TODAY'S QUOTE: "God guided me to America and gave me a good job. But he also gave me a heart so I would look back." -- Manute Bol

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9 -- countries thought to have nuclear-weapon capabilities in 2020 (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel).

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Oct. 16).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 289th day of 2020 and the 24th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1917, infamous spy Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad outside Paris.

In 1990, Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2003, China became the third nation (after the United States and Russia) to launch a manned space mission.

In 2005, Iraqi citizens voted to approve a new constitution.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), philosopher; P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975), author/humorist; Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1917-2007), historian; Lee Iacocca (1924-2019), business leader; Penny Marshall (1943-2018), film director/actress; Jim Palmer (1945- ), baseball player; Sarah Ferguson (1959- ), Duchess of York; Emeril Lagasse (1959- ), chef/TV personality; Dominic West (1969- ), actor; Carlo Janka (1986- ), Olympic skier.

TODAY'S FACT: Confederate marine engineer H.L. Hunley died aboard a hand-powered submarine of his own invention when it sank during a test run on this day in 1863. The vessel was later raised and became the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel when it was used to attack the U.S.S. Housatonic in February 1864.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings tied and broke Gordie Howe's NHL career scoring record of 1,850 points with an assist and a goal against the Edmonton Oilers. He went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Boyhood, like measles, is one of those complaints which a man should catch young and have done with, for when it comes in middle life it is apt to be serious." -- P.G. Wodehouse, "The Adventures of Sally"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,933 -- length (in miles) of the United States' border with Mexico, which is less than half as long as the United States-Canada border (3,987 miles, excluding Alaska).

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 9) and new moon (Oct. 16).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 288th day of 2020 and the 23rd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest and went on to deliver a campaign speech in Milwaukee.

In 1962, a U.S. reconnaissance plane photographed Soviet missile sites on the island of Cuba, setting off the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights leadership.

In 1994, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Oslo accords.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), U.S. president/general; Lillian Gish (1893-1993), actress; e.e. cummings (1894-1962), poet; C. Everett Koop (1916-2013), U.S. surgeon general; Roger Moore (1927-2017), actor; Ralph Lauren (1939- ), fashion designer; Joe Girardi (1964- ), baseball player/manager; Natalie Maines (1974- ), singer-songwriter; Usher (1978- ), singer-songwriter; Mia Wasikowska (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner reached a maximum speed of 843.6 mph in his record-setting 119,431-foot vertical skydiving free fall during the Red Bull Stratos project, on this day in 2012.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1908, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers 2-0 to win their second consecutive World Series. They would not win the Series again until 2016.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- Major League Baseball teams that have never won a World Series: the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 9) and new moon (Oct. 16).