Today is the 256th day of 2012 and the 85th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the river that would later bear his surname.

In 1974, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was removed from power by a military coup after 58 years of rule.

In 1992, space shuttle Endeavour embarked on the 50th NASA shuttle mission.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist/critic; Jesse Owens (1913-1980), Olympic athlete; Ian Holm (1931- ), actor; George Jones (1931- ), singer; Barry White (1944-2003), singer; Joe Pantoliano (1951- ), actor; Ben Folds (1966- ), musician; Yao Ming (1980- ), basketball player; Jennifer Hudson (1981- ), actress/singer; Andrew Luck (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, Boston Red Sox bomber Carl Yastrzemski became the first American League player to reach career totals of 3,000 hits and 400 homers.

TODAY'S FACT: Dr. Mae Jemison, the science mission specialist on the Endeavour in 1992, was the first African-American woman in space.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom." -- H.L. Mencken

TODAY'S NUMBER: 45 -- minutes it took track legend Jesse Owens to break three world records, and tie a fourth, at a college track meet in 1935.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (Sept. 8) and new moon (Sept. 15).

Today is the 255th day of 2012 and the 84th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1841, President John Tyler's entire Cabinet (excluding Secretary of State Daniel Webster) resigned to protest his veto of a national banking bill.

In 1973, Gen. Augusto Pinochet seized control of Chile in a military coup.

In 2001, hijacked planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Virginia and a Pennsylvania field in terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: O. Henry (1862-1910), short-story writer; D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), novelist; Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989), deposed Filipino president; Brian De Palma (1940- ), film director; Moby (1965- ), musician; Harry Connick Jr. (1967- ), actor/singer; Ludacris (1977- ), rapper/actor; Jacoby Ellsbury (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's record with his 4,192nd career hit.

TODAY'S FACT: John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency because of a sitting president's death. During the term he served, after William Henry Harrison's month-long presidency, Tyler was often referred to slightingly as "His Ascendancy" or "Acting President."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved." -- D.H. Lawrence

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,256 -- total career hits, which remains the Major League Baseball record, for Pete Rose.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (Sept. 8) and new moon (Sept. 15).

Today is the 254th day of 2012 and the 83rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1846, Elias Howe patented the first sewing machine.

In 1977, France used a guillotine in carrying out a death sentence for the last time.

In 2002, famously neutral Switzerland became a member of the United Nations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rin Tin Tin (1918-1932), canine actor; Arnold Palmer (1929- ), professional golfer; Roger Maris (1934-1985), baseball player; Charles Kuralt (1934-1997), TV journalist; Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), biologist/writer; Chris Columbus (1958- ), film director; Colin Firth (1960- ), actor; Ryan Phillippe (1974- ), actor; Joey Votto (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Steffi Graf won the first Grand Slam in women's tennis since 1970 with her victory over Gabriela Sabatini in the U.S. Open.

TODAY'S FACT: The United Nations, which included 193 member states as of July 2012, began in 1945 when representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw the charter.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If there is any consistent enemy of science, it is not religion, but irrationalism." -- Stephen Jay Gould

TODAY'S NUMBER: 97 -- countries that have abolished the use of capital punishment as of 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (Sept. 8) and new moon (Sept. 15).