Today is the 255th day of 2016 and the 84th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1857, Mormon guerrillas and Paiute Indians massacred 120 pioneers in Mountain Meadows, Utah.

In 2001, hijacked planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Virginia and a Pennsylvania field in terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

In 2007, Russia announced that it had successfully tested the world's most powerful nonnuclear bomb, a thermobaric weapon nicknamed the "father of all bombs."

In 2012, a heavily armed militia attacked the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: O. Henry (1862-1910), short-story writer; D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), author; Paul "Bear" Bryant (1913-1983), football coach; Tom Landry (1924-2000), football coach; Brian De Palma (1940- ), film director; Virginia Madsen (1961- ), actress; Moby (1965- ), singer-songwriter; Harry Connick Jr. (1967- ), actor/singer-songwriter; Ludacris (1977- ), rapper/actor; Ed Reed (1978- ), football player; Aroldis Chapman (1988- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency because of a sitting president's death. During the term he served, after William Henry Harrison's month-long presidency, Tyler was often referred to slightingly as "His Accidency" or "Acting President."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's record with his 4,192nd career hit.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A story with a moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injects a stinging drop to irritate your conscience." -- O. Henry, "Strictly Business"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,256 -- total career hits for Pete Rose, which remains the Major League Baseball record.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 9) and full moon (Sept. 16).

Today is the 254th day of 2016 and the 83rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1846, Elias Howe patented the first sewing machine.

In 1977, France used a guillotine in carrying out a death sentence for the last time.

In 2002, Switzerland became a member of the United Nations.

In 2008, the Large Hadron Collider was powered up for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Adele Astaire (1896-1981), dancer; Arnold Palmer (1929- ), golfer; Charles Kuralt (1934-1997), TV journalist; Roger Maris (1934-1985), baseball player; Buck Buchanan (1940-1992), football player; Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), biologist/writer; Bill O'Reilly (1949- ), TV host/author; Chris Columbus (1958- ), film director; Colin Firth (1960- ), actor; Randy Johnson (1963- ), baseball player; Guy Ritchie (1968- ), filmmaker; Ryan Phillippe (1974- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The United Nations, which included 193 member states as of August 2016, began in 1945, when representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw the charter.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, the U.S. men's basketball team fell for the first time in Olympic competition, suffering a controversial 51-50 loss to the Soviet Union team on a last-second shot in the gold medal match.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The human mind delights in finding pattern -- so much so that we often mistake coincidence or forced analogy for profound meaning. No other habit of thought lies so deeply within the soul of a small creature trying to make sense of a complex world not constructed for it." -- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Flamingo's Smile"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 140 -- countries that have abolished the use of capital punishment in law or practice as of 2016, according to Amnesty International.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 9) and full moon (Sept. 16).

Today is the 253rd day of 2016 and the 82nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1776, the Continental Congress officially changed the name of the "United Colonies" to the "United States" of America.

In 1791, the capital of the United States was named Washington, D.C., after President George Washington.

In 1850, California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

In 1893, Esther Cleveland, second child of President Grover Cleveland and first lady Frances, became the only child of a president to be born in the White House.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), author; Harland David "Colonel" Sanders (1890-1980), businessman; Cliff Robertson (1923-2011), actor; Otis Redding (1941-1967), singer-songwriter; Joe Theismann (1949- ), sportscaster/football player; Hugh Grant (1960- ), actor; Bob Stoops (1960- ), football coach; Adam Sandler (1966- ), comedian/actor; Eric Stonestreet (1971- ), actor; Michael Buble (1975- ), singer; Michelle Williams (1980- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: California did not go through a formal period as a U.S. territory. It quickly achieved the 60,000 residents required for statehood, due to the Gold Rush.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1965, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax threw a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Progress consists, not in the increase of truth, but in freeing it from its wrappings. The truth is obtained like gold, not by letting it grow bigger, but by washing off from it everything that isn't gold." -- Leo Tolstoy

TODAY'S NUMBER: 210.8 million -- albums certified sold by Elvis Presley, making him second only to the Beatles (269.5 million) as the greatest-selling artist of all time.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Sept. 9).