ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 269th day of 2017 and the fifth day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was named the first U.S. secretary of state, and John Jay was named the first chief justice of the United States.

In 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts met in the first televised presidential debate.

In 1983, Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov correctly dismissed an early warning system report of an American nuclear missile launch as a computer error.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the NC-17 rating, replacing the stigmatized X rating for films intended for viewers aged 17 and older.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Johnny Appleseed (1774-1845), environmentalist; Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), physiologist; Winsor McCay (1867-1934), animator/cartoonist; T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), writer; George Gershwin (1898-1937), composer; Jack LaLanne (1914-2011), fitness expert; Marty Robbins (1925-1982), singer-songwriter; Olivia Newton-John (1948- ), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S FACT: "Abbey Road," the last album for which all four members of The Beatles participated in the recording sessions, was released on this day in 1969.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club's Australia II won the America's Cup, becoming the first non-American winner in the cup's 132-year history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We die to each other daily. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. And they have changed since then." -- T.S. Eliot, "The Cocktail Party"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 732 -- performances of "West Side Story" during its original Broadway run, which opened on this day in 1957 and closed on June 27, 1959.

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

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).