ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 248th day of 2018 and the 77th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.

In 1836, Sam Houston was elected the first president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1882, the first U.S. Labor Day celebration was held in New York City.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford survived an attempt on his life when Secret Service agents tackled would-be assassin Lynette Fromme.

In 1986, Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jesse James (1847-1882), legendary outlaw; Arthur Nielsen (1897-1980), market researcher; Darryl Zanuck (1902-1979), film producer; John Cage (1912-1992), composer; Bob Newhart (1929- ), comedian/actor; Raquel Welch (1940- ), actress/model; Werner Herzog (1942- ), filmmaker; Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer-songwriter; Cathy Guisewite (1950- ), cartoonist; Michael Keaton (1951- ), actor; Rose McGowan (1973- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1957, Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," a defining novel of the postwar generation, was published by Viking Press.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, boxer Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. ... Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates." – Werner Herzog

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- colonies represented at the First Continental Congress in 1774. Georgia declined to send delegates.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 2) and new moon (Sept. 9).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 247th day of 2018 and the 76th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, 44 Spanish settlers founded El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula, now known as Los Angeles.

In 1882, Thomas Edison flipped on the switch at the world's first commercial electrical distribution plant, powering downtown Manhattan in New York City.

In 1888, George Eastman patented his roll-film camera and registered the Kodak trademark.

In 1917, the United States suffered its first World War I military fatalities in France.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Richard Wright (1908-1960), author; Paul Harvey (1918-2009), radio broadcaster; Dick York (1928-1992), actor; Tom Watson (1949- ), professional golfer; Drew Pinsky (1958- ), radio/TV host; Damon Wayans (1960- ), actor/comedian; Mike Piazza (1968- ), baseball player; Wes Bentley (1978- ), actor; Beyonce Knowles (1981- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Whitney Cummings (1982- ), actress/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: Graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page filed paperwork to incorporate Google, their 2-year-old research project, on this day in 1998.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, American swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I was not leaving the south to forget the south, but so that someday I might understand it." -- Richard Wright, "Black Boy"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3,999,759 -- estimated population of the city of Los Angeles in 2017.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 2) and new moon (Sept. 9).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 246th day of 2018 and the 75th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War.

In 1838, abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in Baltimore.

In 1939, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany in response to the country's invasion of Poland.

In 2004, a three-day hostage situation at a school in Beslan, Russia, ended with a gun battle that killed more than 300 people, including 186 children.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Louis Sullivan (1856-1924), architect; Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951), automotive engineer; Kitty Carlisle (1910-2007), actress; Alan Ladd (1913-1964), actor; Mort Walker (1923-2018), cartoonist; Eileen Brennan (1932-2013), actress; Malcolm Gladwell (1963- ), journalist/author; Charlie Sheen (1965- ), actor; Jennie Finch (1980- ), softball player; Shaun White (1986- ), snowboarder/skateboarder.

TODAY'S FACT: Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the automobile company of the same name, designed the first hybrid gasoline-electric car. Known as the Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid, the car went into production in 1900.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, Guiseppe "Nino" Farina won the Italian Grand Prix to become the first Formula One World Drivers champion.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I am of those who believe that gentleness is a greater, surer power than force, and that sympathy is a safer power by far than is intellect." -- Louis Sullivan, "Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,435 -- U.S. service members killed in battle during the Revolutionary War, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Sept. 2) and new moon (Sept. 9).