ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 272nd day of 2024 and the seventh day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invaded England.

In 1924, the first aerial circumnavigation of the world, conducted by a team of aviators from the U.S. Army Air Service, ended in Seattle, Washington, after 175 days.

In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the pregnancy-terminating drug RU-486 after more than a decade of controversy.

In 2008, the space transportation company SpaceX launched Falcon 1, the first privately developed rocket of its kind to enter orbit.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923), author; Ed Sullivan (1901-1974), TV personality; Max Schmeling (1905-2005), boxer; Al Capp (1909-1979), cartoonist; Marcello Mastroianni (1924-1996), actor; Brigitte Bardot (1934- ), actress; Ben E. King (1938-2015), singer-songwriter; Janeane Garofalo (1964- ), comedian/actress; Mira Sorvino (1967- ), actress; Naomi Watts (1968- ), actress; Fedor Emelianenko (1976- ), mixed martial artist; Hilary Duff (1987- ), singer/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: SpaceX's Falcon rockets are named after the Millennium Falcon spacecraft from the movie "Star Wars."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1941, Ted Williams hit 6-for-8 in a doubleheader to finish the season with a batting average over .400 (.406), a feat no player since has accomplished.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I still think my whole career was accidental. I didn't pursue it. I feel like I'm cheating sometimes." -- Ben E. King

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6.8 -- depth (in miles) below sea level of Challenger Deep, the lowest point on Earth, located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 24) and new moon (Oct. 2).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 271st day of 2024 and the sixth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1908, the first Model T automobile was assembled at 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 publicly 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 (1934-2020), actor; Dick Schaap (1934-2001), sportscaster; Meat Loaf (1947-2022), singer-songwriter; Shaun Cassidy (1958- ), singer/actor; Marc Maron (1963- ), actor/comedian; Gwyneth Paltrow (1972- ), actress; Lil Wayne (1982- ), rapper; Avril Lavigne (1984- ), singer; Jenna Ortega (2002- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: On this day 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: "We all have the right to cherry-pick the advice given us in order to do exactly what we wanted to do in the first place." -- Marc Maron

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6.5 -- inches of annual precipitation in Antarctica, qualifying the continent as a desert.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 24) and new moon (Oct. 2).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 270th day of 2024 and the fifth 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 Sen. 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 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), nurseryman/environmentalist; Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), physiologist; 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 (1948-2022), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player; Lilly Singh (1988- ), actress.

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, "Four Quartets -- Extract"

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. 24) and new moon (Oct. 2).