ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 268th day of 2017 and the fourth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

In 1789, Congress approved the 10 constitutional amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights and sent them to the states for ratification.

In 1957, U.S. Army troops stood guard as black students were admitted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, for the first time.

In 2005, the Irish Republican Army officially disarmed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Faulkner (1897-1962), author; Walter "Red" Smith (1905-1982), sportswriter; Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), baseball player; Barbara Walters (1929- ), TV journalist; Shel Silverstein (1930-1999), author; Michael Douglas (1944- ), actor; Mark Hamill (1951- ), actor; Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor; Heather Locklear (1961- ), actress; Scottie Pippen (1965- ), basketball player; Will Smith (1968- ), actor/rapper; Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ), actress; T.I. (1980- ), rapper; Donald Glover (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Of the 162 nominations to the Supreme Court since 1789, 12 were rejected by the Senate.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1882, Providence and Worcester competed in Major League Baseball's first doubleheader.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Man knows so little about his fellows. In his eyes all men or women act upon what he believes would motivate him if he were mad enough to do what that other man or woman is doing." -- William Faulkner, "Light in August"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $813 million -- estimated total cost of the Mars Observer mission, launched on this day in 1992. The probe failed eleven months later, three days prior to its orbital insertion around Mars.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 19) and first quarter moon (Sept. 27).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 267th day of 2017 and the third day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, Congress passed the First Judiciary Act, which provided for the Supreme Court and the office of attorney general.

In 1960, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise, was launched.

In 1968, "60 Minutes," American prime-time television's longest-running program, premiered on CBS.

In 2005, Hurricane Rita hit Texas and southwestern Louisiana.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Marshall (1755-1835), chief justice of the United States; F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), author; Jim McKay (1921-2008), sportscaster; Jim Henson (1936-1990), puppeteer; Linda McCartney (1941-1998), singer; Lou Dobbs (1945- ), journalist; Phil Hartman (1948-1998), actor; Nia Vardalos (1962- ), actress/screenwriter; Rafael Palmeiro (1964- ), baseball player; Morgan and Paul Hamm (1982- ), gymnasts.

TODAY'S FACT: Motorcycle builder Soichiro Honda founded the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu, Japan, on this day in 1948. Before finding success with motorcycles, Honda tried manufacturing weaving machines, frosted glass windows and bamboo roof panels.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Johnson tested positive for steroids three days later and was stripped of the medal.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Genius goes around the world in its youth incessantly apologizing for having large feet. What wonder that later in life it should be inclined to raise those feet too swiftly to fools and bores." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,267 -- height (in feet) of Devils Tower in Wyoming. President Theodore Roosevelt declared the monolithic rock formation the first U.S. National Monument on this day in 1906.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 19) and first quarter moon (Sept. 27).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 266th day of 2017 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: Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927), journalist/activist; Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), journalist/philosopher; Mickey Rooney (1920-2014), actor; John Coltrane (1926-1967), saxophonist; Ray Charles (1930-2004), singer-songwriter; Julio Iglesias (1943- ), singer-songwriter; Bruce Springsteen (1949- ), singer-songwriter; Jason Alexander (1959- ), actor; Ani DiFranco (1970- ), singer-songwriter; Anthony Mackie (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Nintendo, known today as a video game company, 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 stealing 40 bases in a single season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " Where all think alike, no one thinks very much." -- Walter Lippmann, "The Stakes of Diplomacy"

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 new moon (Sept. 19) and first quarter moon (Sept. 27).