ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 295th day of 2017 and the 31st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York City with a performance of Charles Gounod's "Faust."

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced a naval and air "quarantine" of Cuba in a televised speech, after the discovery of Soviet missiles there.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franz Liszt (1811-1886), composer; Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), actress; Curly Howard (1903-1952), actor/comedian; Timothy Leary (1920-1996), psychologist/author; Christopher Lloyd (1938- ), actor; Annette Funicello (1942-2013), actress/singer; Deepak Chopra (1947- ), physician/author; Jeff Goldblum (1952- ), actor; Bob Odenkirk (1962- ), actor/comedian; Spike Jonze (1969- ), filmmaker; Ichiro Suzuki (1973- ), baseball player; Jesse Tyler Ferguson (1975- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2005, Tropical Storm Alpha was the first Atlantic storm to be designated with a Greek letter, after the annual list of 21 names had been exhausted.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2012, Lance Armstrong was formally stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from competitive cycling after a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation revealed he had used performance-enhancing drugs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We are dealing with the best-educated generation in history. ... The problem is that no one is giving them anything fresh. They've got a brain dressed up with nowhere to go." -- Timothy Leary

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,358 -- career hits for Ichiro Suzuki of the Miami Marlins (combining 1,278 hits as a pro in Japan and 3,080 hits in Major League Baseball), the professional baseball record.

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

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 294th day of 2017 and the 30th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1879, Thomas Edison successfully tested an electric lightbulb.

In 1892, the original "Pledge of Allegiance" was recited by an estimated 12 million schoolchildren across the United States in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.

In 1959, the Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City.

In 1967, more than 35,000 anti-war protesters stormed the Pentagon, resulting in nearly 700 arrests.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), poet/essayist; Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), inventor/arms manufacturer; Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993), jazz musician; Celia Cruz (1925-2003), singer; Whitey Ford (1928- ), baseball player; Ursula K. Le Guin (1929- ), author; Judy Sheindlin (1942- ), judge/TV personality; Benjamin Netanyahu (1949- ), Israeli politician; Carrie Fisher (1956-2016), actress/writer; Ken Watanabe (1959- ), actor; Kim Kardashian (1980- ), model/socialite.

TODAY'S FACT: While there are no posthumous nominations for the Nobel Prizes, they can be awarded posthumously if the winner dies before the Dec. 10 ceremony.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit a home run that glanced off the foul pole at Fenway Park in Boston, giving the Red Sox a 12th-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 6 of the World Series.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "How seldom, friend! a good great man inherits / Honor or wealth, with all his worth and pains! / It sounds like stories from the land of spirits / If any man obtain that which he merits, / Or any merit that which he obtains." -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Great Good Man"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13.5 -- hours Thomas Edison's first prototype electric incandescent lightbulb lasted before burning out.

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

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 293rd day of 2017 and the 29th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1944, U.S. forces landed on Leyte Island, beginning a months-long campaign to free the Philippines from Japanese control.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened its first hearings on communist influence in the film industry.

In 1977, three members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed (along with their road manager and the two pilots) when their chartered plane crashed in Mississippi.

In 2011, ousted Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed by rebel forces in Sirte, Libya.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), poet; Bela Lugosi (1882-1956), actor; Art Buchwald (1925-2007), columnist; Joyce Brothers (1927-2013), psychologist/columnist; Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), baseball player; Jerry Orbach (1935-2004), actor; Tom Petty (1950-2017), singer-songwriter; Danny Boyle (1956- ), film director; Viggo Mortensen (1958- ), actor; Snoop Dogg (1971- ), rapper/actor; John Krasinski (1979- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Only four nations in the world currently self-identify as communist states: China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1968, American Dick Fosbury won a gold medal and set an Olympic record when he high-jumped 7 feet 4 1/4 inches at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, marking the international debut of his signature jump style, the "Fosbury Flop."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it." -- Art Buchwald

TODAY'S NUMBER: 18 -- World Series home runs hit by Mickey Mantle in his 18-year career, a record that still stands.

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