Today is the 296th day of 2012 and the 31st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1954, West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced a naval and air "quarantine" of Cuba in a televised speech, after discovery of Soviet missiles there.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment.

In 2005, Tropical Storm Alpha marked the first time an Atlantic storm had to be designated with a Greek letter, after the annual list of 21 names had been exhausted.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franz Liszt (1811-1886), composer; Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), actress; Timothy Leary (1920-1996), psychologist/author; Christopher Lloyd (1938- ), actor; Tony Roberts (1939- ), actor; Annette Funicello (1942- ), actress/singer; Jeff Goldblum (1952- ), actor; Marc Shaiman (1959- ), composer; Spike Jonze (1969- ), filmmaker; Jesse Tyler Ferguson (1975- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, the Boston Red Sox lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, despite an early 3-0 lead.

TODAY'S FACT: A clandestine operation known as Operation Peter Pan sent more than 14,000 Cuban children to the United States between 1960 and 1962, as parents feared their children would be taken against their will to military schools and labor camps in the wake of the Cuban revolution.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people." -- Timothy Leary

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 -- NATO member states in 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (Oct. 21) and full moon (Oct. 29).

Today is the 295th day of 2012 and the 30th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1879, Thomas Edison successfully tested a workable electric lamp.

In 1892, the "Pledge of Allegiance" was recited for the first time by schoolchildren across the United States in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.

In 1967, following a peaceful demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial, thousands of anti-war protesters stormed the Pentagon, resulting in hundreds of arrests.

In 1983, the meter was redefined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458th of a second.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), poet/essayist; Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), inventor/arms manufacturer; Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993), jazz musician; Celia Cruz (1924-2003), singer; Whitey Ford (1928- ), baseball player; Ursula K. Le Guin (1929- ), novelist; Judy Sheindlin (1942- ), judge/TV personality; Benjamin Netanyahu (1949- ), Israeli politician; Carrie Fisher (1956- ), actress/novelist; Kim Kardashian (1980- ), TV personality.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit a home run that glanced off the foul pole at Fenway Park in Boston, giving the Red Sox a 12th-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds in World Series Game 6.

TODAY'S FACT: Of the seven fundamental units of measure in the International System, only the kilogram is defined by a specific physical object. It is the mass of a platinum-iridium bar kept by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next." -- Ursula K. Le Guin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13.5 -- hours Thomas Edison's first prototype electric light bulb lasted before burning out.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Oct. 21).

Today is the 294th day of 2012 and the 29th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened its first hearings on communist influence in the film industry.

In 1973, the "Saturday Night Massacre" occurred as President Richard Nixon had Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox fired by the solicitor general, after Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy had resigned rather than fire Cox themselves.

In 1977, three members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed (along with their road manager and the two pilots) when their chartered plane crashed in Mississippi.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), poet; Bela Lugosi (1882-1956), actor; Art Buchwald (1925-2007), columnist; Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), baseball player; Jerry Orbach (1935-2004), actor; Tom Petty (1950- ), musician; Keith Hernandez (1953- ), baseball player/sportscaster; Viggo Mortensen (1958- ), actor; Snoop Dogg (1971- ), rapper/actor; John Krasinski (1979- ), actor; Gillian Jacobs (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1968, American Dick Fosbury won a gold medal and set an Olympic record when he high-jumped 7 feet 4 1/4 inches at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, marking the international debut of the "Fosbury Flop," his signature jump style.

TODAY'S FACT: There were only five self-defined communist states in the world in 2012: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Every time you think television has hit its lowest ebb, a new program comes along to make you wonder where you thought the ebb was." -- Art Buchwald

TODAY'S NUMBER: 18 -- World Series home runs hit by Mickey Mantle in his 18-year career, a record that still stands.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 15) and first quarter (Oct. 21).