ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 268th day of 2017 and the fourth day of autumn.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
In 1789, Congress approved the 10 constitutional amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification.
In 1957, U.S. Army troops stood guard as black students were admitted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, for the first time.
In 2005, the Irish Republican Army officially disarmed.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Faulkner (1897-1962), author; Walter "Red" Smith (1905-1982), sportswriter; Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), baseball player; Barbara Walters (1929- ), TV journalist; Shel Silverstein (1930-1999), author; Michael Douglas (1944- ), actor; Mark Hamill (1951- ), actor; Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor; Heather Locklear (1961- ), actress; Scottie Pippen (1965- ), basketball player; Will Smith (1968- ), actor/rapper; Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ), actress; T.I. (1980- ), rapper; Donald Glover (1983- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: Of the 162 nominations to the Supreme Court since 1789, 12 were rejected by the Senate.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1882, Providence and Worcester competed in Major League Baseball's first doubleheader.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Man knows so little about his fellows. In his eyes all men or women act upon what he believes would motivate him if he were mad enough to do what that other man or woman is doing." -- William Faulkner, "Light in August"
TODAY'S NUMBER: $813 million -- estimated total cost of the Mars Observer mission, launched on this day in 1992. The probe failed eleven months later, three days prior to its orbital insertion around Mars.
TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 19) and first quarter moon (Sept. 27).