ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 262nd day of 2024 and the 91st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slave owners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to free states.

In 1947, the National Security Act took effect, establishing the Central Intelligence Agency and making the Air Force an independent branch of the U.S. military.

In 2014, a majority of voters in Scotland chose to remain part of the United Kingdom.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), author/lexicographer; Greta Garbo (1905-1990), actress; Agnes de Mille (1905-1993), dancer/choreographer; Joe Kubert (1926-2012), writer/illustrator/educator; Scotty Bowman (1933- ), hockey coach; Fred Willard (1933-2020), actor/comedian; Frankie Avalon (1940- ), singer; Rick Pitino (1952- ), basketball coach; James Gandolfini (1961-2013), actor; Aisha Tyler (1970- ), actress; Lance Armstrong (1971- ), cyclist; Jada Pinkett Smith (1971- ), actress; Jason Sudeikis (1975- ), actor/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2009, the final episode of the soap opera "Guiding Light" aired, ending its 72-year broadcast run on radio and TV.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, Sammy Sosa became the first Major League Baseball player to hit 60 home runs in two seasons.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." -- Samuel Johnson

TODAY'S NUMBER: $1 billion -- donation pledged "to United Nations causes" by media mogul Ted Turner on this day in 1997. Turner's United Nations Foundation donated its billionth dollar in 2006, $600 million of which came from Turner himself.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 17) and last quarter moon (Sept. 24).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 261st day of 2024 and the 90th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, delegations from 12 states voted to approve the proposed Constitution at Philadelphia's Constitutional Convention.

In 1862, more than 23,000 people died or were wounded in the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, resulting in the bloodiest single day in U.S. military history.

In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin reached a historic accord at Camp David.

In 2001, the New York Stock Exchange reopened, having been closed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rube Foster (1879-1930), baseball player/manager; William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), physician/poet; Hank Williams Sr. (1923-1953), singer-songwriter; George Blanda (1927-2010), football player; Anne Bancroft (1931-2005), actress; Ken Kesey (1935-2001), author; Phil Jackson (1945- ), basketball player/coach; Baz Luhrmann (1962- ), filmmaker; Kyle Chandler (1965- ), actor; Jimmie Johnson (1975- ), race car driver; Flo Rida (1979- ), rapper; Alex Ovechkin (1985- ), hockey player; Patrick Mahomes (1995- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: NASA unveiled its first space shuttle, Enterprise, at a ceremony in Palmdale, California, on this day in 1976.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Barry Bonds became just the third baseball player in history (after Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth) to hit 700 career home runs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The secret of being a top-notch con man is being able to know what the mark wants, and how to make him think he's getting it." -- Ken Kesey, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 30 -- years a state of war had existed between Israel and Egypt when the Camp David accords were signed on this day in 1978.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Sept. 17).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 260th day of 2024 and the 89th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the explosion of a bomb on Wall Street killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds of others.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act, authorizing the military draft.

In 1974, President Gerald Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jean Arp (1886-1966), artist; H.A. Rey (1898-1977), children's author/illustrator; Lauren Bacall (1924-2014), actress; B.B. King (1925-2015), musician; Peter Falk (1927-2011), actor; Ed Begley Jr. (1949- ), actor; Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950- ), author/academic; Mickey Rourke (1952- ), actor; David Copperfield (1956- ), magician; Marc Anthony (1968- ), singer-songwriter; Amy Poehler (1971- ), actress; Alexis Bledel (1981- ), actress; Nick Jonas (1992- ), singer/musician.

TODAY'S FACT: German-born Jewish authors Margret and H.A. Rey fled Paris by bicycle in June 1940, the manuscript for what would become "Curious George" in tow, just before the city fell to Nazi Germany.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1981, Sugar Ray Leonard unified boxing's welterweight title by knocking out Tommy Hearns in the 14th round of a bout in an outdoor arena at the Caesar's Palace casino in Las Vegas.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "America is the greatest nation ever founded. The ideals are the greatest ever espoused in human history, and we just need the country to live up to them." -- Henry Louis Gates Jr.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 342 -- one-night stand gigs performed by blues legend B.B. King and his band in 1956.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 10) and full moon (Sept. 17).