ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 351st day of 2024 and the 86th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1773, Tea Act protesters dumped hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor, an act that came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.

In 1835, "The Great Fire" destroyed nearly 700 buildings in New York City.

In 1944, German forces began a 90-minute artillery barrage against the Allied front, signaling the onset of the Battle of the Bulge.

In 2000, President George W. Bush nominated Colin Powell as the first African American secretary of state.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jane Austen (1775-1817), author; Noel Coward (1899-1973), playwright; Margaret Mead (1901-1978), anthropologist; Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), writer; Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), author; Lesley Stahl (1941- ), journalist; Steven Bochco (1943-2018), screenwriter/producer; Shane Black (1961- ), actor/screenwriter/director; William "The Refrigerator" Perry (1962- ), football player; Benjamin Bratt (1963- ), actor; Krysten Ritter (1981- ), actress; Theo James (1984- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Margaret Mead was named "Mother of the World" by Time magazine in 1969.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson became the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It really seems to me that in the midst of great tragedy, there is always the horrible possibility that something terribly funny will happen." -- Philip K. Dick

TODAY'S NUMBER: $2.92 billion -- worldwide box-office gross of James Cameron's "Avatar," which began its wide international release on this day in 2009. It is the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation).

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 15) and last quarter moon (Dec. 22).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 350th day of 2024 and the 85th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1791, the Bill of Rights took effect after ratification by Virginia.

In 1961, convicted of war crimes, Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Nazis' "final solution," was sentenced to death by an Israeli court.

In 1970, the Soviet probe Venera 7 landed on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to complete a soft landing on another planet.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced his intention to grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China, severing ties with Taiwan, on Jan. 1, 1979.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), engineer/architect; Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959), playwright; J. Paul Getty (1892-1976), oil tycoon/philanthropist; Betty Smith (1896-1972), author; Tim Conway (1933-2019), actor/comedian; Dave Clark (1939- ), musician; Don Johnson (1949- ), actor; Julie Taymor (1952- ), director; Rodney Harrison (1972- ), football player; Adam Brody (1979- ), actor; Charlie Cox (1982- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The Venera probe that landed on Venus in 1970 transmitted data to Earth for a total of 53 minutes, including just 20 minutes from the surface of the planet.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1982, Bill Parcells became the coach of the NFL's New York Giants.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in that lifetime." -- Maxwell Anderson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3.99 degrees –- angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa's lean. The tower reopened on this day in 2001 after an 11-year, $27 million effort to reduce the prior 5.5-degree tilt of the famed structure.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Dec. 15).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 349th day of 2024 and the 84th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1799, George Washington died at Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia.

In 1819, Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S. state.

In 1911, explorer Roald Amundsen and his party became the first humans to reach the South Pole.

In 2001, after Hurricane Michelle devastated Cuba, a commercial shipment of food left the United States for the island nation for the first time since 1963.

In 2012, a 20-year-old gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, before taking his own life.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James Doolittle (1896-1993), military aviator; Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), politician; Shirley Jackson (1916-1965), author; Don Hewitt (1922-2009), TV producer; Lee Remick (1935-1991), actress; Patty Duke (1946-2016), actress; Bill Buckner (1949-2019), baseball player; Kyle Shanahan (1979- ), football coach; Vanessa Hudgens (1988- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Historians have estimated that physicians drained 5 to 7 pints of blood from President George Washington in the day prior to his death, in an attempt to cure him.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, after losing the first 17 games of the season, the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88 for the franchise's first win.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character." -- Margaret Chase Smith

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- points known as the South Pole: the ceremonial pole, the geographic pole and the magnetic pole.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 8) and full moon (Dec. 15).