Today is the 296th day of 2015 and the 31st day of autumn.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1915, more than 25,000 women marched on Fifth Avenue in New York City to advocate voting rights for women.
In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly met for the first time in New York City.
In 1983, a suicide truck bombing in Beirut killed 241 U.S. military personnel.
In 2001, Apple announced the first iPod, which cost $399 and offered five gigabytes of storage.
In 2002, armed Chechen separatists took more than 700 people hostage at a theater in Moscow.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003), swimmer; Johnny Carson (1925-2005), TV personality/comedian; Juan "Chi-Chi" Rodriguez (1935- ), golfer; Pele (1940- ), soccer player; Michael Crichton (1942-2008), writer; Ang Lee (1954- ), filmmaker; Dwight Yoakam (1956- ), singer-songwriter; Nancy Grace (1959- ), journalist/TV host; Sam Raimi (1959- ), director; "Weird Al" Yankovic (1959- ), singer/satirist; Ryan Reynolds (1976- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: "Westworld," a 1973 science fiction film written and directed by Michael Crichton, was the first movie to use computer-generated images.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1993, right fielder Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6 and earn the Blue Jays' second consecutive World Series title.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." -- Michael Crichton
TODAY'S NUMBER: 51 -- members of the United Nations when it first convened in 1946.
TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Oct. 20) and full moon (Oct. 27).