ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 355th day of 2024 and the 90th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1803, the territory covered by the Louisiana Purchase was formally transferred to the United States from France.

In 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States.

In 1941, with his army under pressure on the Russian front, Adolf Hitler ordered "no retreat."

In 1946, the Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" was released in New York City.

In 1989, the United States invaded Panama to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega in Operation Just Cause.

In 2019, the U.S. Space Force was established as the first new branch of the U.S. Armed Forces since 1947.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harvey S. Firestone (1868-1938), business magnate; Branch Rickey (1881-1965), baseball executive; Irene Dunne (1898-1990), actress; Uri Geller (1946- ), illusionist; Dick Wolf (1946- ), TV producer; Alan Parsons (1948- ), musician; Billy Bragg (1957- ), singer-songwriter; Rich Gannon (1965- ), football player/sportscaster; David Wright (1982- ), baseball player; Jonah Hill (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison in the German state of Bavaria on this day in 1924 after 264 days of incarceration for treason.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1946, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson won the welterweight crown by a unanimous decision over Tommy Bell.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn't any limit to what you can do with your business and your life. Ideas are any man's greatest asset." -- Harvey S. Firestone

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.4 million -- acres of land owned by the Emmerson family, making them the largest private landowners in the United States.

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

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 354th day of 2024 and the 89th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1777, the Continental Army under George Washington set up winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

In 1932, the first BBC World Service radio broadcast aired, originally known as the Empire Service.

In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton.

In 2011, North Korea announced that dictator Kim Jong Il had died two days earlier.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), historian; Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), Soviet leader; Jean Genet (1910-1986), author; Edith Piaf (1915-1963), singer/actress; Cicely Tyson (1924-2021), actress; Al Kaline (1934-2020), baseball player; Richard Leakey (1944-2022), paleoanthropologist; Robert Urich (1946-2002), actor; Reggie White (1961-2004), football player; Criss Angel (1967- ), magician; Tyson Beckford (1970- ), model/actor; Alyssa Milano (1972- ), actress; Warren Sapp (1972- ), football player; Jake Gyllenhaal (1980- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Cicely Tyson, born on this day in 1924, was the first Black American woman to receive an honorary Oscar, awarded in November 2018.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, Brigham Young University's football team, down 20 points with 3 minutes, 57 seconds to play, staged an improbable comeback to defeat Southern Methodist University in the Holiday Bowl, 46-45.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "As life has taught me time and again, you often have to lose your present circumstance to make room for your forthcoming one." -- Cicely Tyson, "Just as I Am"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- astronauts in the Apollo program who set foot on the moon's surface. The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returned to Earth on this day in 1972.

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

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 353rd day of 2024 and the 88th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, Secretary of State William Seward announced that slavery was formally ended in the United States with the certification of the 13th Amendment.

In 1892, Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1957, the first civilian electricity-generating nuclear facility in America opened in Pennsylvania.

In 1958, a U.S. rocket launched SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment), the world's first communications satellite, into space.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.H. Munro aka Saki (1870-1916), author; Ty Cobb (1886-1961), baseball player; Robert Moses (1888-1981), urban planner; Betty Grable (1916-1973), actress; Ossie Davis (1917-2005), actor; Keith Richards (1943- ), musician; Steven Spielberg (1946- ), director; Ray Liotta (1954-2022), actor; Brad Pitt (1963- ), actor; Steve Austin (1964- ), wrestler/actor; DMX (1970-2021), rapper/actor; Sia (1975- ), singer-songwriter; Katie Holmes (1978- ), actress; Christina Aguilera (1980- ), singer; Billie Eilish (2001- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: The SCORE satellite launched in 1958 used a tape recorder to save and relay voice messages. It communicated a Christmas message from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the world via shortwave frequency on Dec. 19.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1932, a blizzard forced the National Football League to hold its championship game inside Chicago Stadium on an 80-yard field. The Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans, 9-0.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When one has nothing left to one but memories, one guards and dusts them with especial care." -- Saki

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- U.S. presidents who have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump on this day in 2019. Trump was impeached a second time in 2021. None were convicted.

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