Today is the 318th day of 2012 and the 53rd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1942, the minimum draft age for U.S. armed service was lowered from 21 to 18.

In 1970, the Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh killed more than 300,000 people.

In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

In 1997, "The Lion King" opened on Broadway.

In 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order allowing military tribunals for suspected terrorists.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), writer; Louis Brandeis (1856-1941), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Leon Leonwood Bean (1872-1967), retailer; Jack Elam (1916-2003), actor; Joe Mantegna (1947- ), actor; Whoopi Goldberg (1955- ), actress/comedian; Jimmy Kimmel (1967- ), comedian/TV host.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1985, Lynette Woodard made her debut as the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

TODAY'S FACT: The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba was established in 1903, when a stipulation in the Cuban-American Treaty designated the Guantanamo Bay area to be perpetually leased to the United States.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you." -- Louis Brandeis

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6,205 -- performances of Disney's "The Lion King" on Broadway since its 1997 debut, making the musical the fifth-longest-running show in Broadway history (as of Oct. 21, 2012).

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Nov. 13).

Today is the 317th day of 2012 and the 52nd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam over The Associated Press wire service.

In 1997, Ramzi Yousef was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed a bill allowing banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies to merge and provide one another's services for the first time since the start of the Great Depression.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), activist; Harry A. Blackmun (1908-1999), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Grace Kelly (1929-1982), actress/Princess of Monaco; Al Michaels (1944- ), sportscaster; Neil Young (1945- ), singer/songwriter; Megan Mullally (1958- ), actress; Nadia Comaneci (1961- ), gymnast; Anne Hathaway (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1892, the Allegheny Athletic Association paid $500 to William "Pudge" Heffelfinger for a big game against Pittsburgh Athletic Club, making him the first recorded professional football player.

TODAY'S FACT: Grace Kelly's movies were banned in Monaco by order of her husband, Prince Rainier.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I don't know whether (the White House is) the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system." -- Bill Clinton

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- individual events Nadia Comaneci won at her first European championship, at age 13.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (Nov. 6) and new moon (Nov. 13).

Today is the 316th day of 2012 and the 51st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1620, religious pilgrims aboard the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact calling for the formation of a "body politike."

In 1918, the Allies and Germany signed an armistice ending World War I fighting.

In 1992, the Church of England and the Anglican Church voted to allow women to become priests.

In 2004, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in Paris.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Abigail Adams (1744-1818), first lady of the United States; James Renwick (1818-1895), architect; Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), author; George Patton (1885-1945), U.S. general; Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), novelist; Stanley Tucci (1960- ), actor; Demi Moore (1962- ), actress; Calista Flockhart (1964- ), actress; Leonardo DiCaprio (1974- ), actor; Mark Sanchez (1986- ), football player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1981, Rookie of the Year Fernando Valenzuela won the Cy Young Award, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to win both honors in the same year.

TODAY'S FACT: Abigail Adams was one of only two women (Barbara Bush was the other) to be wife of one president and mother of another, though she never knew it. She died seven years before John Quincy Adams was elected.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory." -- George Patton

TODAY'S NUMBER: 41 -- pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (Nov. 6) and new moon (Nov. 13).