Today is the 295th day of 2014 and the 31st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York City with a performance of Charles Gounod's "Faust."

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced a naval and air "quarantine" of Cuba in a televised speech, after the 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 was the first Atlantic storm 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; Curly Howard (1903-1952), actor/comedian; Timothy Leary (1920-1996), psychologist/author; Christopher Lloyd (1938- ), actor; Annette Funicello (1942-2013), actress/singer; Deepak Chopra (1946- ), physician/author; Jeff Goldblum (1952- ), actor; Bob Odenkirk (1962- ), actor/comedian; Spike Jonze (1969- ), filmmaker; Ichiro Suzuki (1973- ), baseball player; Jesse Tyler Ferguson (1975- ), actor.

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 into military schools and labor camps in the wake of the Cuban revolution.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2012, Lance Armstrong was formally stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from competitive cycling after a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation revealed he had used performance-enhancing drugs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The worst curse to befall anyone is stagnation, a banal existence, the quiet desperation that comes out of a need for conformity." -- Deepak Chopra, "The Return of Merlin"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 10 -- consecutive 200-hit seasons (2001-2010) for Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, a Major League Baseball record.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 15) and new moon (Oct. 23).

Today is the 294th day of 2014 and the 30th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1879, Thomas Edison successfully tested an electric light bulb.

In 1892, the original "Pledge of Allegiance" was recited by an estimated 12 million schoolchildren across the United States in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.

In 1959, the Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City.

In 1967, more than 35,000 anti-war protesters stormed the Pentagon, resulting in nearly 700 arrests.

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- ), author; Judy Sheindlin (1942- ), judge/TV personality; Benjamin Netanyahu (1949- ), Israeli politician; Carrie Fisher (1956- ), actress/writer; Ken Watanabe (1959- ), actor.

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 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 Game 6 of the World Series.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom." -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 15) and new moon (Oct. 23).

Today is the 293rd day of 2014 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 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.

In 2011, ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed by rebel forces in Sirte, Libya.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), poet; Bela Lugosi (1882-1956), actor; Art Buchwald (1925-2007), columnist; Joyce Brothers (1927-2013), psychologist/columnist; Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), baseball player; Jerry Orbach (1935-2004), actor; Tom Petty (1950- ), singer-songwriter; Danny Boyle (1956- ), film director; Viggo Mortensen (1958- ), actor; Snoop Dogg (1971- ), rapper/actor; John Krasinski (1979- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Only four nations in the world currently self-identify as communist states: China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam.

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 his signature jump style, the "Fosbury Flop."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk." -- Joyce Brothers

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 last quarter moon (Oct. 15) and new moon (Oct. 23).