Today is the 282nd day of 2012 and the 17th day of autumn.

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).

Today is the 281st day of 2012 and the 16th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1896, The Wall Street Journal began publishing what is known today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked in the Mediterranean by Palestinian terrorists.

In 1996, Fox News Channel was launched on cable.

In 2001, the United States and Great Britain began air strikes against strategic targets in Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Niels Bohr (1885-1962), physicist; Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), spiritual/political leader; June Allyson (1917-2006), actress; Al Martino (1927-2009), singer/actor; Desmond Tutu (1931- ), archbishop/Nobel laureate; Thomas Keneally (1935- ), novelist; Vladimir Putin (1952- ), Russian politician; Yo-Yo Ma (1955- ), cellist; Simon Cowell (1959- ), record executive/TV personality; Thom Yorke (1968- ), musician; Taylor Hicks (1976- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Chicago Bears running back Walter Peyton broke Jim Brown's career-rushing record of 12,312 yards.

TODAY'S FACT: In June 2005, after meeting with U.S. business executives, Vladimir Putin left with the NFL championship ring shown to him by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. There was speculation that Putin had mistakenly pocketed the ring, but Kraft confirmed that the ring was a gift, presented out of "respect and admiration."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." -- Desmond Tutu

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.6 million -- average daily prime-time audience of "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News Channel in August 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 29) and last quarter (Oct. 8).

Today is the 280th day of 2012 and the 15th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1949, American-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino (identified as "Tokyo Rose") was fined and sentenced to prison after being found guilty of treason.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur.

In 1981, Egyptian president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Anwar Sadat was assassinated.

In 2000, Serbian and Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, who had been indicted by the United Nations in 1999 for crimes against humanity, resigned.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jenny Lind (1820-1887), opera singer; George Westinghouse (1846-1914), engineer/inventor; Le Corbusier (1887-1965), architect; Helen Wills Moody (1905-1998), tennis player; Carole Lombard (1908-1942), actress; Elisabeth Shue (1963- ), actress; Jeremy Sisto (1974- ), actor; Olivia Thirlby (1986- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1926, Babe Ruth hit three home runs for the New York Yankees in game four of the World Series, setting a record that still stands and leading the Yankees to a 10-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

TODAY'S FACT: George Westinghouse formed more than 60 companies to market his inventions, which were collectively estimated to have been worth $120 million in 1900.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Fear is, I believe, a most effective tool in destroying the soul of an individual -- and the soul of a people." -- Anwar Sadat

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 -- Nobel laureates who have declined the prize. Jean-Paul Sartre declined the 1964 Literature Prize, and Le Duc Tho declined the 1973 Peace Prize, which he was to have shared with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 29) and last quarter (Oct. 8).