ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 284th day of 2017 and the 20th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski died from wounds he suffered while fighting for American independence in the Revolutionary War.

In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution formed.

In 1975, "Saturday Night Live" debuted on NBC.

In 2002, former president Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), first lady/writer/diplomat; Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), novelist; Daryl Hall (1946- ), singer-songwriter; David Morse (1953- ), actor; Steve Young (1961- ), football player; Joan Cusack (1962- ), actress; Artie Lange (1967- ), comedian; Jane Krakowski (1968- ), actress; Emily Deschanel (1976- ), actress; Matt Bomer (1977- ), actor; Terrell Suggs (1982- ), football player; Michelle Trachtenberg (1985- ), actress; Michelle Wie (1989- ), golfer.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first president (he was a former president at the time) to fly in an airplane, at Kinloch Field in St. Louis. He rode as a passenger for a four-minute flight in a plane built by the Wright Brothers.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1890, John Owen ran the first recorded 100-yard dash that broke 10 seconds.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "'Yeah, ESP,' Juvenal said. 'You know how you do it? You listen to the other person instead of thinking of what you're gonna say next. That's all, and you learn things.'" -- Elmore Leonard, "Touch"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17 -- age of Anthony Michael Hall when he was hired as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” in 1985, making him the show’s youngest cast member ever.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Oct. 5) and last quarter moon (Oct. 12).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 283rd day of 2017 and the 19th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy (then known as the U.S. Naval School) opened in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1957, the core of a nuclear reactor caught fire in Cumbria, England.

In 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned the vice presidency after being charged with tax evasion.

In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give President George W. Bush authority to use military force in Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), composer; Helen Hayes (1900-1993), actress; Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), jazz pianist/composer; Harold Pinter (1930-2008), director/playwright; Ben Vereen (1946- ), actor/singer/dancer; David Lee Roth (1954- ), singer-songwriter; Bradley Whitford (1959- ), actor; Michael Giacchino (1967- ), composer; Brett Favre (1969- ), football player; Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974- ), race car driver; Aimee Teegarden (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The London Bridge that had spanned the River Thames in London since 1831 was disassembled in 1967 and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It opened there on this day in 1971.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1920, Cleveland Indians Bill Wambsganss and Elmer Smith performed the first unassisted triple play and hit the first grand slam, respectively, in World Series history, in Game 5 against the New York Yankees.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness." -- Harold Pinter

TODAY'S NUMBER: 360,760 -- shareholders in the Green Bay Packers in 2017. It is the only publicly owned NFL franchise.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Oct. 5) and last quarter moon (Oct. 12).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 282nd day of 2017 and the 18th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1635, Rhode Island founder Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident.

In 1888, the Washington Monument opened to the general public.

In 1967, guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara was executed for attempting to lead revolutionaries in Bolivia.

In 1986, the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" opened in London's West End.

In 2006, North Korea claimed it had performed its first nuclear test.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alastair Sim (1900-1976), actor; John Lennon (1940-1980), singer-songwriter; Jackson Browne (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Tony Shalhoub (1953- ), actor; Scott Bakula (1954- ), actor; Mike Singletary (1958- ), football player; Guillermo del Toro (1964- ), director; David Cameron (1966- ), British prime minister; Annika Sorenstam (1970- ), golfer; Brandon Routh (1979- ), actor; Scotty McCreery (1993- ), singer; Bella Hadid (1996- ), model.

TODAY'S FACT: Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" is the longest-running show in the history of Broadway, with 12,342 performances as of late September 2016.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1915, Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting president to attend a World Series game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "That's part of our policy, is not to be taken seriously, because I think our opposition, whoever they may be, in all their manifest forms, don't know how to handle humor." -- John Lennon

TODAY'S NUMBER: 36,491 -- marble bricks used to build the Washington Monument.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Oct. 5) and last quarter moon (Oct. 12).