ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 343rd day of 2023 and the 78th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1793, Noah Webster published New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva.

In 1872, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became the first serving U.S. governor of African American descent when he was named acting governor of Louisiana.

In 1968, engineer Douglas Engelbart demonstrated the first computer system to use hypertext links and a mouse.

In 1979, the World Health Organization certified that smallpox had been eradicated.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Emmett Kelly (1898-1979), clown; Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937), author; Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), actor; Redd Foxx (1922-1991), comedian; Judi Dench (1934- ), actress; Deacon Jones (1938-2013), football player; Beau Bridges (1941- ), actor; Dick Butkus (1942-2023), football player; John Malkovich (1953- ), actor; Donny Osmond (1957- ), singer; Kurt Angle (1968- ), wrestler/actor; Lori Greiner (1969- ), entrepreneur/TV personality; Hikaru Nakamura (1987- ), chess player.

TODAY'S FACT: After Pinkney Benton Stewart Pinchback was appointed acting governor of Louisiana, it would be more than 100 years before the first elected African American governor, Douglas Wilder of Virginia, took office, in 1990.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1934, the New York Giants exchanged their cleats for sneakers during the third quarter, then outmaneuvered the Chicago Bears on a frozen field to turn a 13-3 deficit into a 30-13 victory.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "People get up, they go to work, they have their lives, but you'll never see the headlines say, 'Six billion people got along rather well today.' You'll have the headline about the 30 people who shot each other." -- John Malkovich

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 -- number of classic children's books about Babar the elephant written and illustrated by Jean de Brunhoff. He died of tuberculosis at age 37, and his son Laurent continued the series.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Dec. 4) and new moon (Dec. 12).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 342nd day of 2023 and the 77th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and officially entered World War II.

In 1980, John Lennon was shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building.

In 1991, the leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In 2019, China recorded the first confirmed case of COVID-19.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eli Whitney (1765-1825), inventor; James Thurber (1894-1961), humorist; Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990), entertainer; David Carradine (1936-2009), actor; Jim Morrison (1943-1971), singer-songwriter; Kim Basinger (1953- ), actress; Ann Coulter (1961- ), political commentator; Teri Hatcher (1964- ), actress; Kevin Harvick (1975- ), race car driver; Ryan Newman (1977- ), race car driver; Ian Somerhalder (1978- ), actor; Nicki Minaj (1982- ), rapper; Sam Hunt (1984- ), singer-songwriter; Dwight Howard (1985- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: SpaceX became the first private company in the world to successfully launch, place in orbit and recover a spacecraft on this day in 2010.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1940, the Chicago Bears routed Washington in the NFL championship game, 73-0. It remains the largest margin of victory in NFL history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself -- and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to -- letting a person be what he really is." -- Jim Morrison

TODAY'S NUMBER: 500,000 -- pounds of cotton exported by the United States in 1793, before Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. By 1810, the U.S. was exporting 93 million pounds of cotton annually.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Dec. 4) and new moon (Dec. 12).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 341st day of 2023 and the 76th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,403 American service members and civilians.

In 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the online file-sharing service Napster.

In 2002, Iraq denied that it had weapons of mass destruction in a United Nations declaration.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Willa Cather (1873-1947), author; Eli Wallach (1915-2014), actor; Ted Knight (1923-1986), actor; Ellen Burstyn (1932- ), actress; Harry Chapin (1942-1981), singer-songwriter; Johnny Bench (1947- ), baseball player; Tom Waits (1949- ), singer-songwriter; Larry Bird (1956- ), basketball player; Jeffrey Wright (1965- ), actor; Patrice O'Neal (1969-2011), actor/comedian; Sara Bareilles (1979- ), singer-songwriter; Emily Browning (1988- ), actress; Nicholas Hoult (1989- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Senate voted for a war resolution 82-0. The House of Representatives approved the resolution 388-1.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, home-run record holder Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty to lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one's own." -- Willa Cather, "The Professor's House"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 129 -- servicemen lost by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the attack on Pearl Harbor on this day in 1941.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Dec. 4) and new moon (Dec. 12).