Today is the 348th day of 2016 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 1972, American astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt began the third and final lunar excursion of the Apollo 17 mission. They remain the most recent humans to set foot on the moon.

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; Dick Van Dyke (1925- ), actor; Christopher Plummer (1929- ), actor; Ted Nugent (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Steve Buscemi (1957- ), actor; Rex and Rob Ryan (1962- ), football coaches; Mike Tirico (1966- ), sportscaster; Jamie Foxx (1967- ), actor; Sergei Fedorov (1969- ), hockey player; B.J. Penn (1978- ), mixed martial artist; Taylor Swift (1989- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Jamie Foxx is one of five performers to have both a Billboard No. 1 single and an Oscar win. The others are Barbra Streisand, Cher, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

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 QUOTE: "Oh what lies there are in kisses! / And their guile so well prepared! / Sweet the snaring is; but this is / Sweeter still, to be ensnared." -- Heinrich Heine, "The Home-coming"

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: Full moon (Dec. 13).

Today is the 347th day of 2016 and the 82nd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1901, the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission was received by inventor Guglielmo Marconi in Newfoundland.

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

In 2012, North Korea successfully launched Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2, its first satellite.

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; Bill Nighy (1949- ), actor; Royce Gracie (1966- ), mixed martial artist; Jennifer Connelly (1970- ), actress; Mayim Bialik (1975- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Ten nations/organizations are currently capable of putting satellites in orbit using their own launch vehicles: the United States, Japan, China, the intergovernmental European Space Agency, India, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1965, rookie running back Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears scored an NFL record-tying six touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving and one punt return) in a 61-20 win over the visiting San Francisco 49ers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry." -- 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 first quarter moon (Dec. 7) and full moon (Dec. 13).

Today is the 346th day of 2016 and the 81st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1816, Indiana was admitted as the 19th U.S. state.

In 1941, the United States declared war on Germany and Italy.

In 1946, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

In 1972, the lunar module for Apollo 17, the final manned mission of the Apollo space program, touched ground on the moon.

In 2008, investment banker Bernie Madoff was arrested for perpetrating one of the largest Ponzi-scheme frauds in U.S. history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), composer; Fiorello La Guardia (1882-1947), New York City mayor; Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), novelist/dissident; Rita Moreno (1931- ), actress; John Kerry (1943- ), U.S. secretary of state; Teri Garr (1947- ), actress; Mo'Nique (1967- ), actress; Mos Def (1973- ), actor/rapper; Hailee Steinfeld, (1996- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Apollo 17, which set records for the longest lunar surface exploration and the most lunar material collected, remains the most recent manned lunar mission.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1981, Muhammad Ali fought in his final boxing match, losing a unanimous decision to Trevor Berbick.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's an universal law -- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility." -- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

TODAY'S NUMBER: $17.3 billion -- total (in principal) lost by clients in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. $48 billion more was lost in fictitious profits.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 7) and full moon (Dec. 13).