ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 273rd day of 2024 and the eighth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the U.S. Congress established a regular army, maintaining several hundred troops.

In 1916, The New York Times reported that John D. Rockefeller, the head of Standard Oil, was almost certainly a billionaire, the world's first.

In 1966, the Chevrolet Camaro debuted for sale in U.S. dealerships.

In 1988, NASA launched STS-26, the 26th Space Shuttle mission and the first since the Challenger disaster of Jan. 28, 1986.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), writer; Caravaggio (1571-1610), painter; Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), nuclear physicist; Greer Garson (1904-1996), actress; Gene Autry (1907-1998), singer/actor; Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-2022), singer-songwriter; Madeline Kahn (1942-1999), actress; Ian McShane (1942- ), actor; Lech Walesa (1943- ), labor leader/politician; Bryant Gumbel (1948- ), TV journalist; Ann Bancroft (1955- ), author/explorer; Russell Peters (1970- ), actor/comedian; Zachary Levi (1980- ), actor; Kevin Durant (1988- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" is widely considered to be the first modern novel. It was initially published in two volumes in 1605 and 1615.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1951, NBC broadcast a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh. It was the first live sporting event to be televised nationwide.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There's two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery." -- Enrico Fermi

TODAY'S NUMBER: 777.68 -- points lost by the Dow Jones Industrial Average on this day in 2008, following the bankruptcies of the financial services companies Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.

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

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).