ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 304th day of 2017 and the 40th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his "Ninety-Five Theses" on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, in protest of the selling of papal indulgences.

In 1926, magician Harry Houdini died of complications from a ruptured appendix.

In 1941, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, was declared complete.

In 1957, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., established its first American headquarters in Hollywood, California.

In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two bodyguards.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Keats (1795-1821), poet; Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927), Girl Scouts founder; Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), Taiwanese leader; Dale Evans (1912-2001), actress/singer-songwriter; Dan Rather (1931- ), TV journalist; Michael Landon (1936-1991), actor; John Candy (1950-1994), actor; Jane Pauley (1950- ), TV journalist; Peter Jackson (1961- ), filmmaker; Dermot Mulroney (1963- ), actor; Vanilla Ice (1967- ), rapper; Piper Perabo (1976- ), actress; Willow Smith (2000- ), actress/singer.

TODAY'S FACT: An outspoken critic of clerical celibacy, Martin Luther married Katherine of Bora, a former nun, in 1525. They had five children together.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to play in an NBA game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest." -- John Keats

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 billion -- estimated population of the world on Oct. 31, 2011, which was officially designated "The Day of Seven Billion" by the United Nations Population Fund.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Oct. 27) and full moon (Nov. 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 303rd day of 2017 and the 39th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1811, Jane Austen published her first novel, "Sense and Sensibility," under the pseudonym "a Lady."

In 1890, Oakland, California, became one of the first jurisdictions in the country to enact an anti-drug law, which banned non-prescription opium, morphine and cocaine.

In 1938, Orson Welles' radio production of "War of the Worlds" created panic in listeners who believed they were actually listening to reports of a Martian invasion.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush opened the Madrid Conference, the first direct, official peace talks to include Israel and all its Arab neighbors.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Adams (1735-1826), second U.S. president; William Halsey (1882-1959), U.S. admiral/fleet commander; Ezra Pound (1885-1972), poet/critic; Charles Atlas (1893-1972), bodybuilder; Grace Slick (1939- ), singer; Henry Winkler (1945- ), actor; Harry Hamlin (1951- ), actor; Gavin Rossdale (1965- ), singer/songwriter; Nia Long (1970- ), actress; Matthew Morrison (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Cocaine was not nationally regulated in the United States until 1914, when the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title by knocking out George Foreman in the eighth round of the "Rumble in the Jungle."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand." -- Ezra Pound

TODAY'S NUMBER: 60,000 -- weight (in pounds) of "Tsar Bomba," the Soviet hydrogen bomb detonated in a test on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in northern Russia on this day in 1961. With a blast yield of 50 to 58 megatons of TNT, the 26-foot-long bomb remains the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Oct. 27) and full moon (Nov. 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 302nd day of 2017 and the 38th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed in what came to be called "Black Tuesday," marking the beginning of the Great Depression.

In 1966, the newly formed National Organization for Women held its first national conference.

In 1969, the first connection on ARPANET (the precursor to the internet) was made between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute.

In 2004, European leaders signed the first constitution of the European Union.

In 2015, China announced the end of its one-child policy after 35 years.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Fanny Brice (1891-1951), singer/comedian; Bill Mauldin (1921-2003), cartoonist; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (1938- ), Liberian president; Bob Ross (1942-1995), painter/instructor; Richard Dreyfuss (1947- ), actor; Lee Child (1954- ), author; Dan Castellaneta (1957- ), actor; David Remnick (1958- ), journalist/editor; Joely Fisher (1967- ), actress; Winona Ryder (1971- ), actress; Gabrielle Union (1972- ), actress; Ben Foster (1980- ), actor; India Eisley (1993- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa's first female elected head of state.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) made his professional boxing debut, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "(Editorial cartooning) is essentially a destructive art. We are not pontificators, or molders of thought -- or at least we shouldn't try to be. Ours is more the role of the lowly gadfly: circle and stab, circle and stab. Roughly put, our credo should be, if it's big, hit it." -- Bill Mauldin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 77 -- age of astronaut John Glenn when the space shuttle Discovery launched on this day in 1998, making Glenn the oldest person ever to travel in space.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Oct. 27) and full moon (Nov. 3).