Today is the 270th day of 2012 and the fifth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was named the first U.S. secretary of state and John Jay was named the first chief justice of the United States.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met in the first televised presidential debate.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the NC-17 rating, which was intended to replace the stigmatized X rating for films intended for viewers aged 17 and older.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), poet/playwright; George Gershwin (1898-1937), composer; Jack LaLanne (1914-2011), fitness expert; Olivia Newton-John (1948- ), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club's Australia II won the America's Cup. It was the first win by a non-American yacht in the cup's 132-year history.

TODAY'S FACT: Public opinion polls showed that those who had listened to the radio broadcast of the first Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960 thought Nixon was the victor, while those who watched the debate on television overwhelmingly thought Kennedy had won.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." -- John F. Kennedy

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 -- X-rated films ever nominated for the best picture Academy Award. "Midnight Cowboy" is the only X-rated film ever to win the Oscar.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).

Today is the 269th day of 2012 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 1957, U.S. Army troops stood guard as black students were admitted to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., for the first time.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female Supreme Court justice.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Faulkner (1897-1962), novelist/short-story writer; Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905-1982), sportswriter; Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), baseball player; Barbara Walters (1929- ), TV journalist; Michael Douglas (1944- ), actor; Mark Hamill (1951- ), actor; Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor; Michael Madsen (1957- ), actor; Scottie Pippen (1965- ), basketball player; Will Smith (1968- ), actor/rapper; Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ), actress; Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr. (1980- ), rapper.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1882, Providence and Worcester competed in Major League Baseball's first doubleheader.

TODAY'S FACT: Of 158 nominations to the Supreme Court between 1789 and 2010, 12 were rejected by the Senate.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A mule will labor ten years willingly and patiently for you, for the privilege of kicking you once." -- William Faulkner

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7.8 million -- area (in square miles) of the Southern Ocean, which was delimited in 2000 and includes portions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).

Today is the 268th day of 2012 and the third day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, Congress passed the First Judiciary Act, which provided for the Supreme Court and the office of attorney general.

In 1968, "60 Minutes," American prime-time television's longest-running program, premiered.

In 2005, Hurricane Rita hit Texas and southwestern Louisiana.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Marshall (1755-1835), chief justice of the United States; F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), novelist/short-story writer; Jim McKay (1921-2008), sportscaster; Jim Henson (1936-1990), puppeteer; Nia Vardalos (1962- ), actress/screenwriter.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Dodgers' last game at Ebbets Field.

TODAY'S FACT: The Brooklyn Dodgers' team name changed several times after the organization joined the National League in 1890, even before the move to Los Angeles. The club's former names include the Bridegrooms, Superbas, Trolley Dodgers and Robins.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

TODAY'S NUMBER: 360,740 -- population of New Orleans, the fastest-growing city in the United States, in 2011. The city remains at 80 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina population of 454,863 in 2005.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Sept. 22) and full moon (Sept. 29).