ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 266th day of 2018 and the second day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1806, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis from its exploration venture to the Pacific coast.

In 1845, the New York Knickerbockers baseball club was founded.

In 1846, astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune.

In 1952, vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon gave his famous "Checkers" speech, denying allegations of improper campaign financing.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927), journalist/activist; Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), journalist/philosopher; Mickey Rooney (1920-2014), actor; John Coltrane (1926-1967), saxophonist; Ray Charles (1930-2004), singer-songwriter; Julio Iglesias (1943- ), singer-songwriter; Bruce Springsteen (1949- ), singer-songwriter; Jason Alexander (1959- ), actor; Ani DiFranco (1970- ), singer-songwriter; Anthony Mackie (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Nintendo, known today as a video game company, was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan, on this day in 1889. The company originally produced handmade playing cards.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Jose Canseco of the Oakland A's became the first member of Major League Baseball's "40-40 club," hitting 40 home runs and stealing 40 bases in a single season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " Where all think alike, no one thinks very much." -- Walter Lippmann, "The Stakes of Diplomacy"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 33 -- surviving members in Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. Only one member of the party died during the nearly 8,000-mile expedition.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 16) and full moon (Sept. 24).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 265th day of 2018 and the first day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1776, the British hanged 21-year-old teacher/soldier Nathan Hale as a spy.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, making all slaves in seceding states free as of Jan. 1, 1863.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford survived a second assassination attempt in three weeks when his would-be assassin was thwarted by a bystander within a group of onlookers in San Francisco.

In 1980, Iraq invaded disputed territory in the Persian Gulf, officially beginning an eight-year war with Iran.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Michael Faraday (1791-1867), scientist; Charles Brenton Huggins (1901-1997), physician; Tommy Lasorda (1927- ), baseball player/manager; Eugene Roche (1928-2004), actor; David Stern (1942- ), NBA commissioner; Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. (1951- ), publisher; Andrea Bocelli (1958- ), singer-songwriter; Joan Jett (1958- ), singer-songwriter; Scott Baio (1960- ), actor; Bonnie Hunt (1961- ), actress; Tom Felton (1987- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The first issue of National Geographic was published on this day in 1888.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, San Francisco Giants center fielder Willie Mays hit his 600th career home run in a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When we win, I'm so happy I eat a lot. When we lose, I'm so depressed, I eat a lot. When we're rained out, I'm so disappointed I eat a lot." -- Tommy Lasorda

TODAY'S NUMBER: $990,445 -- purse (then the largest in the history of boxing) that Gene Tunney won for defending his heavyweight title against Jack Dempsey in the infamous "Long Count" bout held on this date in 1927.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 16) and full moon (Sept. 24).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 264th day of 2018 and the 93rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1792, the French National Convention declared France a republic and voted to abolish the monarchy.

In 1897, the New York Sun published an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church that included the now-famous phrase, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

In 1981, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female Supreme Court justice.

In 2013, Islamic militants attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.G. Wells (1866-1946), historian/author; Chuck Jones (1912-2002), animator; Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), singer-songwriter; Henry Gibson (1935-2009), comedian/actor; Jerry Bruckheimer (1943- ), film/TV producer; Stephen King (1947- ), author; Bill Murray (1950- ), actor; Ethan Coen (1957- ), filmmaker; Rob Morrow (1962- ), actor; Cheryl Hines (1965- ), actress; Faith Hill (1967- ), singer-songwriter; Luke Wilson (1971- ), actor; Lindsey Stirling (1986- ), violinist/composer; Jason Derulo (1989- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: There are no female characters in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," published on this day in 1937. Only one female, Belladonna Took, is mentioned by name.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, "Monday Night Football" made its ABC broadcast debut with a game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories ... And those that carry us forward, are dreams." -- H.G. Wells

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 -- novels published by Stephen King under the pen name Richard Bachman, which King used in his early career because publishers told him audiences wouldn't buy more than one book per year from the same writer.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 16) and full moon (Sept. 24).