ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 353rd day of 2019 and the 88th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1777, the Continental Army under George Washington set up winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

In 1932, the first BBC World Service radio broadcast aired, as "Empire Service."

In 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton.

In 2011, North Korea announced that dictator Kim Jong Il had died two days earlier.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), historian; Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), Soviet leader; Jean Genet (1910-1986), author; Edith Piaf (1915-1963), singer/actress; Al Kaline (1934- ), baseball player; Richard Leakey (1944- ), paleoanthropologist; Robert Urich (1946-2002), actor; Reggie White (1961-2004), football player; Criss Angel (1967- ), magician; Tyson Beckford (1970- ), model; Alyssa Milano (1972- ), actress; Warren Sapp (1972- ), football player; Jake Gyllenhaal (1980- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The first American president to be impeached by the House of Representatives was Andrew Johnson in 1868.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, Brigham Young University's football team, down 20 points with three minutes to play, staged an improbable comeback to defeat Southern Methodist University in the Holiday Bowl, 46-45.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If we behave like those on the other side, then we are the other side. Instead of changing the world, all we'll achieve is a reflection of the one we want to destroy." -- Jean Genet, "The Balcony"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- astronauts in the Apollo program who set foot on the moon's surface. The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returned to Earth on this day in 1972.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Dec. 18) and new moon (Dec. 25).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 352nd day of 2019 and the 87th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, slavery formally ended in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.

In 1892, Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1957, the first civilian electricity-generating nuclear facility in America opened in Pennsylvania.

In 1958, a U.S. rocket launched SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment), the world's first communications satellite, into space.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: H.H. Munro aka Saki (1870-1916), author; Ty Cobb (1886-1961), baseball player; Robert Moses (1888-1981), urban planner; Betty Grable (1916-1973), actress; Ossie Davis (1917-2005), actor; Keith Richards (1943- ), musician; Steven Spielberg (1946- ), director; Ray Liotta (1954- ), actor; Brad Pitt (1963- ), actor; Steve Austin (1964- ), wrestler/actor; DMX (1970- ), rapper/actor; Katie Holmes (1978- ), actress; Christina Aguilera (1980- ), singer; Billie Eilish (2001- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: The SCORE satellite launched in 1958 used a tape recorder to save and relay voice messages. It communicated a Christmas message from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the world via shortwave frequency on Dec. 19.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1932, a blizzard forced the National Football League to hold its championship game inside Chicago Stadium on an 80-yard field. The Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans, 9-0.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart." -- Saki, "The Unbearable Bassington"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $10.5 billion -- lifetime domestic box office gross (adjusted for inflation) of Steven Spielberg’s feature films, making him the highest-grossing director of all time.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Dec. 18).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 351st day of 2019 and the 86th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1903, Orville Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight in a power-driven airplane.

In 1989, the first episode of "The Simpsons" aired.

In 1992, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed by the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In 2010, street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of government mistreatment in Tunisia, becoming a catalyst for Arab Spring protests in the region.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), poet; Ford Madox Ford (1873-1939), novelist; William Safire (1929-2009), columnist; Eugene Levy (1946- ), actor/comedian; Wes Studi (1947- ), actor; Bill Pullman (1953- ), actor; Peter Farrelly (1956- ), filmmaker; Rian Johnson (1973- ), filmmaker; Paula Radcliffe (1973- ), long-distance runner; Sarah Paulson (1974- ), actress; Giovanni Ribisi (1974- ), actor; Milla Jovovich (1975- ), actress; Manny Pacquiao (1978- ), boxer; Chase Utley (1978- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: An attempt to re-create the Wright brothers' inaugural flight on North Carolina's Outer Banks failed to take off in 2003, on the first flight's 100-year anniversary.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1933, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants 23-21 to win the first NFL Championship game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "On the two-way street of communication, a happy symbiosis is achieved when a writer tosses up an offbeat usage or a puzzling word and the working reader figures it out and savors it." -- William Safire, "Let a Simile Be Your Umbrella"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 34 -- Emmy Awards won by "The Simpsons" as of 2019.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 11) and last quarter moon (Dec. 18).