ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 249th day of 2020 and the 78th 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 a Secret Service agent 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 F. 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; Dennis Scott (1968- ), basketball player/sportscaster; 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: "If you want to do a film, steal a camera, steal raw stock, sneak into a lab and do it!" – Werner Herzog, "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe"

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 1) and last quarter moon (Sept. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 248th day of 2020 and the 77th 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; Mark Ronson (1975- ), musician/songwriter/producer; Wes Bentley (1978- ), actor; Beyonce Knowles (1981- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Whitney Cummings (1982- ), actress/comedian; Kyle Mooney (1984- ), actor/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: "Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread." -- Richard Wright, "Native Son"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 million -- estimated population of the city of Los Angeles in 2019.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 1) and last quarter moon (Sept. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 247th day of 2020 and the 76th 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; Jevon Kearse (1976- ), football player; 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: "We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for." -- Malcolm Gladwell, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking"

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 full moon (Sept. 1) and last quarter moon (Sept. 10).