Today is the 349th day of 2012 and the 84th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1799, George Washington died at Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia.

In 1911, explorer Roald Amundsen and his party became the first humans to reach the South Pole.

In 2001, after Hurricane Michelle devastated Cuba, a commercial shipment of food left the United States for the island nation for the first time since 1962.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Nostradamus (1503-1566), astrologer/physician; James Doolittle (1896-1993), military aviator; Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), politician; Shirley Jackson (1919-1965), author; Lee Remick (1935-1991), actress; Patty Duke (1946- ), actress; Vanessa Hudgens (1988- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, after losing the first 17 games of the season, the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 89-88 for the franchise's first win.

TODAY'S FACT: Historians have estimated that physicians drained five to seven pints of blood from President George Washington in the day prior to his death, in an attempt to cure him.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I don't believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest." -- Margaret Chase Smith

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 -- actual poles at the South Pole: the ceremonial pole, the geographical pole and the magnetic pole.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Dec. 13) and first quarter moon (Dec. 20).

Today is the 348th day of 2012 and the 83rd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1577, Sir Francis Drake left England on a three-year voyage around the world.

In 2002, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as archbishop of Boston following sex abuse scandals in the archdiocese.

In 2003, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. military forces in a small underground hideout near Tikrit, Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), poet; Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882), first lady; Diego Rivera (1886-1957), painter; Dick Van Dyke (1925- ), actor; Christopher Plummer (1929- ), actor; Ted Nugent (1948- ), musician; Steve Buscemi (1957- ), actor; Jamie Foxx (1967- ), actor; Sergei Fedorov (1969- ), hockey player; Taylor Swift (1989- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, the "Mitchell Report" was released, indicating widespread steroid use in professional baseball and naming dozens of players involved.

TODAY'S FACT: Mexican artist Diego Rivera painted a fresco on a ground-floor wall at Rockefeller Center in 1933. However, the commissioned work was destroyed shortly after completion because it contained a portrait of Vladimir Lenin.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Whenever books are burned, men also in the end are burned." -- Heinrich Heine

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- Mary Todd Lincoln's age when her mother died. Abraham Lincoln's mother died when he was 9.

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

Today is the 347th day of 2012 and the 82nd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1901, the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission was received by inventor Guglielmo Marconi in Newfoundland.

In 1963, Kenya gained its independence from Great Britain.

In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, effectively resolving the 2000 presidential election.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Jay (1745-1829), first chief justice of the United States; William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), journalist/abolitionist; Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), novelist; Edvard Munch (1863-1944), artist; Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973), actor; Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), singer; Bob Barker (1923- ), TV personality; Dionne Warwick (1940- ), singer; Jennifer Connelly (1970- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1930, Major League Baseball's rules committee issued a revised code. Among many changes, balls that bounce into the stands were ruled automatic doubles, rather than home runs.

TODAY'S FACT: Frank Sinatra once wrote that rock 'n' roll music was "the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost." -- Gustave Flaubert

TODAY'S NUMBER: 537 -- popular votes by which George W. Bush officially won the state of Florida's electoral votes in 2000.

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