Today is the 282nd day of 2012 and the 17th day of autumn.
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TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire leveled three square miles, leaving 100,000 homeless and more than 300 dead.
In 1945, President Harry Truman announced that the United States would share its knowledge of the atomic bomb exclusively with Britain and Canada.
In 2005, an earthquake on the border of India and Pakistan killed more than 75,000 people and left 3 million homeless.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Frank Herbert (1920-1986), author; Paul Hogan (1939- ), actor; Jesse Jackson (1941- ), civil rights leader; Chevy Chase (1943- ), comedian/actor; R.L. Stine (1943- ), children's author; Sigourney Weaver (1949- ), actress; Matt Damon (1970- ), actor; Nick Cannon (1980- ), actor/TV personality; Bruno Mars (1985- ), singer; Angus T. Jones (1993- ), actor.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1956, New York Yankee Don Larsen pitched the first and only perfect World Series game, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
TODAY'S FACT: On the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, a fire in Peshtigo, Wis., (about 250 miles outside of Chicago) destroyed the town and claimed more than 1,200 lives.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change." -- Jesse Jackson
TODAY'S NUMBER: $20 billion -- estimated cost of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs, through August 1945.
TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Oct. 8).