Today is the 341st day of 2012 and the 76th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

In 1790, the U.S. Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia.

In 1957, two months after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the United States attempted to launch its first satellite, but the Vanguard rocket exploded on the launch pad.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), poet; Ira Gershwin (1896-1983), lyricist; Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995), photojournalist; Baby Face Nelson (1908-1934), criminal; Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), jazz pianist; Craig Newmark (1952- ), founder of craigslist.com; Tom Hulce (1953- ), actor; Steven Wright (1955- ), comedian; Andrew Cuomo (1957- ), New York governor; Judd Apatow (1967- ), filmmaker.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, after a loss to Navy, Army became the first Division I college football team in history to finish the season 0-13.

TODAY'S FACT: Even before the 2010 earthquake, Haiti was one of the least developed and least stable countries in the Western Hemisphere. The United Nations' Human Development Index ranked Haiti 145th (out of 169 nations) in 2010.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

TODAY'S NUMBER: 898 -- steps to the top of the Washington Monument when it was dedicated. Since a wheelchair ramp was added, there are 896.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Dec. 6).

Today is the 340th day of 2012 and the 75th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1933, the era of alcohol prohibition ended as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment.

In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists launched an organized bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala.

In 1994, Newt Gingrich of Georgia was selected to become the first Republican Speaker of the House in four decades.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), eighth U.S. president; George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), U.S. Army officer; Walt Disney (1901-1966), cartoonist/filmmaker; Strom Thurmond (1902-2003), governor/senator; Otto Preminger (1906-1986), film director; Little Richard (1932- ), singer; Joan Didion (1934- ), author; Jose Carreras (1946- ), opera singer; Nick Stahl (1979- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1908, numbers were used on football uniforms for the first time, at the University of Pittsburgh.

TODAY'S FACT: During Prohibition, Bill McCoy was known for his quality bootlegged "moonshine," giving the phrase "the real McCoy" its origin.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing -- it was all started by a mouse." -- Walt Disney

TODAY'S NUMBER: $623.4 million -- domestic box office gross of "The Avengers" (2012) as of November 2012. The movie is Disney's highest-grossing film of all time.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Nov. 28) and last quarter moon (Dec. 6).

Today is the 339th day of 2012 and the 74th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, George Washington bid farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.

In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt terminated the Works Progress Administration.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops to Somalia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), essayist/historian; Samuel Butler (1835-1902), novelist; Lillian Russell (1861-1922), actress; Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), poet; Francisco Franco (1892-1975), Spanish dictator; Jeff Bridges (1949- ), actor; Marisa Tomei (1964- ), actress; Jay-Z (1969- ), rapper/entrepreneur; Tyra Banks (1973- ) model/TV personality.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, Golden State Warriors basketball player Latrell Sprewell was suspended by the NBA for one year after choking the team's coach, P.J. Carlesimo, during a practice on Dec. 1, 1997.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States still does not have an embassy in Somalia.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore." -- Samuel Butler

TODYA'S NUMBER: 6,600 -- writers, including Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Studs Terkel and Richard Wright, who received financial support from the Federal Writers Project, a part of the Works Progress Administration.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Nov. 28) and last quarter moon (Dec. 6).