Today is the 283rd day of 2012 and the 18th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1635, religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In 1888, the public was first allowed inside the Washington Monument.

In 1967, guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara was executed for attempting to lead revolutionaries in Bolivia.

In 2006, North Korea claimed it had performed its first nuclear test.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Lennon (1940-1980), musician; Trent Lott (1941- ), politician; Jackson Browne (1948- ), singer/songwriter; Tony Shalhoub (1953- ), actor; Scott Bakula (1954- ), actor; Mike Singletary (1958- ), football player; Guillermo del Toro (1964- ), director; Annika Sorenstam (1970- ), golfer; Scotty McCreery (1993- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1915, Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting president to attend a World Series game.

TODAY'S FACT: The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues presented a lifetime presidential pass for attending games to Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, but he wasn't a baseball fan.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To err is human, to forgive is divine ... but this does not make it desirable to make as many errors as possible." -- Roger Williams

TODAY'S NUMBER: 36,491 -- marble bricks used to build the Washington Monument.

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

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).