ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 299th day of 2018 and the 35th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1774, the first Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

In 1881, the legendary shootout between lawmen and outlaw cowboys near the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, left three men dead.

In 2001, President George W. Bush signed the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act into law.

In 2002, Russian special forces raided a theater in Moscow where Chechen separatists had held hundreds of patrons hostage for nearly three days. More than 130 hostages and all 40 militants were killed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972), singer; Bob Hoskins (1942-2014), actor; Pat Conroy (1945-2016), novelist; Pat Sajak (1946- ), TV personality; Hillary Clinton (1947- ), politician; Dylan McDermott (1961- ), actor; Cary Elwes (1962- ), actor; Natalie Merchant (1963- ), singer; Keith Urban (1967- ), singer-songwriter; Seth MacFarlane (1973- ), actor/writer/TV producer; Jon Heder (1977- ), actor; Sasha Cohen (1984- ), figure skater.

TODAY'S FACT: Florida is the flattest state in the United States. Its highest elevation is only 345 feet above sea level.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, the Florida Marlins became the youngest Major League Baseball franchise ever to win a World Series, earning the championship in its fifth year of existence. The 4-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks surpassed the Marlins' mark with a World Series win in 2001.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Happiness is an accident of nature, a beautiful and flawless aberration." -- Pat Conroy, "The Lords of Discipline"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $50 -- advertised monthly pay for Pony Express riders and station keepers. The horseback delivery service, which relayed mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, officially ceased operations on this day in 1861.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Oct. 24) and last quarter moon (Oct. 31).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 298th day of 2018 and the 34th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1415, King Henry V led his English forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.

In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit the People's Republic of China as the country's "official" government, expelling Taiwan.

In 1983, U.S. troops invaded Grenada to secure the safety of American medical students on the island and to overthrow a Marxist regime.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Georges Bizet (1838-1875), composer; Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), artist; Charles Coughlin (1891-1979), radio host/priest; Minnie Pearl (1912-1996), comedian; Marion Ross (1928- ), actress; Bob Knight (1940- ), basketball coach; Helen Reddy (1941- ), singer-songwriter; Anne Tyler (1941- ), author; James Carville (1944- ), political consultant/commentator; Midori (1971- ), violinist; Pedro Martinez (1971- ), baseball player; Craig Robinson (1971- ), actor; Zadie Smith (1975- ), author; Katy Perry (1984- ), singer.

TODAY'S FACT: Pablo Picasso's birth name was Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. He was named after a variety of relatives and saints.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1986, the New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the World Series after a routine ground ball rolled between the legs of Boston first-baseman Bill Buckner, allowing the winning run and capping the Mets' 10th-inning, come-from-behind victory. The Mets won Game 7 two nights later to earn the championship.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life." -- Zadie Smith

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11 -- age at which violinist Midori made her concert debut with the New York Philharmonic.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Oct. 24) and last quarter moon (Oct. 31).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 297th day of 2018 and the 33rd day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1926, magician Harry Houdini gave his last performance at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit.

In 1945, the charter establishing the United Nations took effect.

In 1987, the Teamsters union was readmitted to the AFL-CIO, 30 years after its expulsion.

In 2002, authorities arrested John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo in connection with Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks.

In 2003, the last commercial Concorde flight was made.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), writer/publisher; Bob Kane (1915-1998), writer/illustrator; Jiles Perry "The Big Bopper" Richardson (1930-1959), singer-songwriter; Stephen Covey (1932-2012), author/educator; Bill Wyman (1936- ), musician; F. Murray Abraham (1939- ), actor; Kevin Kline (1947- ), actor; Monica (1980- ), singer; Wayne Rooney (1985- ), soccer player; Drake (1986- ), actor/rapper; Shenae Grimes (1989- ), actress; Eric Hosmer (1989- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1901, adventurer Annie Edson Taylor celebrated her 63rd birthday by becoming the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 to win World Series Game 6, becoming the first Canadian team to win the Major League Baseball championship.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We see the world, not as it is, but as we are -- or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms." -- Stephen Covey

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 -- jersey numbers in the four major American professional sports leagues that are retired throughout the league. The No. 42 worn by Jackie Robinson (who died on this day in 1972) was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997; the No. 99 worn by Wayne Gretzky was retired by the National Hockey League in 2000.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Oct. 24).