Today is the 257th day of 2015 and the 86th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1812, the Fire of Moscow broke out as Russian troops left the city and the French Grande Armee entered.

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote "Defence of Fort McHenry," the poem that provided the lyrics for "The Star-Spangled Banner."

In 1901, President William McKinley died of wounds received on Sept. 6 from an assassin's bullet, and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as his successor.

In 1994, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced the cancellation of the remainder of the season after a 34-day player strike.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Clayton Moore (1914-1999), actor; Mario Benedetti (1920-2009), journalist/author; Zoe Caldwell (1933- ), actress; Walter Koenig (1936- ), actor/director/producer; Larry Brown (1940- ), basketball coach; Sam Neill (1947- ), actor; Melissa Leo (1960- ), actress; Faith Ford (1964- ), actress; Andrew Lincoln (1973- ), actor; Nas (1973- ), rapper; Katie Lee (1981- ), chef/TV personality; Amy Winehouse (1983-2011), singer.

TODAY'S FACT: Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first American-born Catholic saint when she was canonized by Pope Paul VI on this day in 1975.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1987, the Toronto Blue Jays hit a major-league record 10 home runs in a single game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The story of the West is inspiring and terrible, idealistic and bloody, sublime and atrocious. It embodies this country's best and worst characteristics." -- Clayton Moore, "I Was That Masked Man"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including six in the Middle East, four in Africa and two in South America. OPEC was founded on this day in 1960.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 12) and first quarter moon (Sept. 21).

Today is the 256th day of 2015 and the 85th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, Congress chose New York City as the temporary federal capital.

In 1971, state police and National Guard soldiers stormed Attica Correctional Facility in New York, bringing a four-day riot to an end.

In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords.

In 2001, civilian air traffic resumed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2007, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Milton Hershey (1857-1945), Hershey Co. founder; John Pershing (1860-1948), U.S. Army general; Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), author; Claudette Colbert (1903-1996), actress; Roald Dahl (1916-1990), author; Mel Torme (1925-1999), singer/actor; Judith Martin (1938- ), "Miss Manners" columnist; Jean Smart (1951- ), actress; Anne Geddes (1956- ), photographer; Michael Johnson (1967- ), Olympic sprinter; Tyler Perry (1969- ), actor/filmmaker; Fiona Apple (1977- ), singer; Thomas Muller (1989- ), soccer player.

TODAY'S FACT: Roald Dahl, best known as an author of children's books, was the screenwriter of the 1967 James Bond film "You Only Live Twice."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, Gary Muhrcke won the first New York City Marathon with a time of 2:31:38.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The rationale that etiquette should be eschewed because it fosters inequality does not ring true in a society that openly admits to a feverish interest in the comparative status-conveying qualities of sneakers. Manners are available to all, for free." -- Judith Martin, "Common Courtesy"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 70 million -- Hershey's Kisses produced daily by the Hershey Co.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 12) and first quarter moon (Sept. 21).

Today is the 255th day of 2015 and the 84th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the river that would later bear his surname.

In 1940, four teenagers discovered prehistoric paintings, estimated to be 15,000 to 17,000 years old, in a cave in Lascaux, France.

In 1953, Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts married Jaqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1992, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, science mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, became the first African-American woman in space.

In 2011, the National September 11 Memorial opened to the public in New York City.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist/critic; Jesse Owens (1913-1980), Olympic athlete; Ian Holm (1931- ), actor; George Jones (1931-2013), singer-songwriter; Barry White (1944-2003), singer-songwriter; Joe Pantoliano (1951- ), actor; Ben Folds (1966- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Louis C.K. (1967- ), actor/comedian; Jason Statham (1967- ), actor; Paul Walker (1973-2013), actor; Yao Ming (1980- ), basketball player; Jennifer Hudson (1981- ), actress/singer; Andrew Luck (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The Western series "Bonanza" premiered on NBC on this day in 1959.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Dwight "Doc" Gooden of the New York Mets threw his 246th strikeout, breaking the rookie record for strikeouts in a single season. He finished the season with 276, a record that still stands.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To the man with an ear for verbal delicacies -- the man who searches painfully for the perfect word, and puts the way of saying a thing above the thing said -- there is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident." -- H.L. Mencken, "A Book of Prefaces"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 76 -- bronze plates on the walls of the memorial pools at the September 11 Memorial and Museum, inscribed with 2,983 names: the 2,977 victims of the 9/11 terror attacks and the 6 victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Sept. 12).