UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 266th day of 2013 and the second day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1806, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis from its exploration venture to the Pacific coast.

In 1845, the New York Knickerbockers baseball club was founded.

In 1846, astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune.

In 1952, vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon gave his famous "Checkers" speech, denying allegations of improper campaign financing.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), journalist/philosopher; Mickey Rooney (1920- ), actor; John Coltrane (1926-1967), jazz saxophonist/bandleader; Ray Charles (1930-2004), singer-songwriter; Julio Iglesias (1943- ), singer-songwriter; Marty Schottenheimer (1943- ), football coach; Bruce Springsteen (1949- ), singer-songwriter; Jason Alexander (1959- ), actor; Ani DiFranco (1970- ), singer-songwriter; Anthony Mackie (1979- ), actor; Joba Chamberlain (1985- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Nintendo, known today as the video game company responsible for the creation of the Wii console, was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan, on this day in 1889. The company originally produced handmade playing cards.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Jose Canseco of the Oakland A's became the first member of Major League Baseball's "40-40 club," hitting 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To create a minimum standard of life below which no human being can fall is the most elementary duty of the democratic state." -- Walter Lippmann

TODAY'S NUMBER: 33 -- surviving members in Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. Only one member of the party died during the nearly 8,000-mile expedition.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 19) and last quarter moon (Sept. 26).

UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 265th day of 2013 and the first day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1776, the British hanged Nathan Hale as a spy.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, making all slaves in seceding states free as of Jan. 1, 1863.

In 1980, Iraq invaded disputed territory in the Persian Gulf, officially beginning an eight-year war with Iran.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Michael Faraday (1791-1867), scientist; Tommy Lasorda (1927- ), baseball player/manager; Eugene Roche (1928-2004), actor; David Stern (1942- ), NBA commissioner; Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. (1951- ), publisher; Andrea Bocelli (1958- ), singer; Joan Jett (1958- ), singer; Scott Baio (1960- ), actor; Bonnie Hunt (1961- ), actress; Tom Felton (1987- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: American revolutionary Nathan Hale's famous last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," may have been paraphrased from Joseph Addison's play, "Cato."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, San Francisco Giants center fielder Willie Mays hit his 600th career home run in a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Destiny has a lot to do with it, but so do you. You have to persevere, you have to insist." -- Andrea Bocelli

TODAY'S NUMBER: $990,446 -- purse (then the largest in the history of boxing) that Gene Tunney won for defending his heavyweight title against Jack Dempsey in the infamous "Long Count" bout held on this date in 1927.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 19) and last quarter moon (Sept. 26).

UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 264th day of 2013 and the 93rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1792, the French National Convention declared France a republic and voted to abolish the monarchy.

In 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" was published.

In 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong announced the communist government of the People's Republic of China.

In 1981, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female Supreme Court justice.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.G. Wells (1866-1946), historian/novelist; Chuck Jones (1912-2002), animator; Larry Hagman (1931-2012), actor; Leonard Cohen (1934- ) singer-songwriter; Henry Gibson (1935-2009), comedian/actor; Jerry Bruckheimer (1945- ), film producer; Stephen King (1947- ), author; Bill Murray (1950- ), actor; Ethan Coen (1957- ), filmmaker; Cheryl Hines (1965- ), actress; Faith Hill (1967- ), singer; Luke Wilson (1971- ), actor; Maggie Grace (1983- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Best-selling author Stephen King wrote under two names (Stephen King and Richard Bachman) in his early career because publishers told him audiences wouldn't buy more than one book per year from the same writer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, "Monday Night Football" made its ABC broadcast debut with a game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." -- H.G. Wells, "The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $1.3 billion -- total worldwide box office gross (as of early September 2013) for director Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," films based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkein.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 19) and last quarter moon (Sept. 26).