ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 284th day of 2024 and the 19th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy (then known as the U.S. Naval School) opened in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1957, the core of a nuclear reactor caught fire in Cumbria, England.

In 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned the vice presidency after being charged with tax evasion.

In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to give President George W. Bush authority to use military force in Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), explorer/humanitarian; Helen Hayes (1900-1993), actress; Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), jazz pianist/composer; Harold Pinter (1930-2008), director/playwright; John Prine (1946-2020), singer-songwriter; Ben Vereen (1946- ), actor/singer/dancer; Nora Roberts (1950- ), author; David Lee Roth (1954- ), singer-songwriter; Michael Giacchino (1967- ), composer; Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974- ), race car driver; Aimee Teegarden (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The London Bridge that had spanned the River Thames in London since 1831 was disassembled in 1967 and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It opened there on this day in 1971.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1920, the Cleveland Indians' Bill Wambsganss and Elmer Smith performed the first unassisted triple play and hit the first grand slam, respectively, in World Series history, in Game 5 against the Brooklyn Robins.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The only reason I figured out I didn’t like my old records to listen was I could hear how nervous I was, and how uncomfortable I was. And who would want to sit around and listen to yourself being uncomfortable?" -- John Prine

TODAY'S NUMBER: 538,967 -- shareholders in the Green Bay Packers in 2024. It is the only publicly owned NFL franchise.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Oct. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 283rd day of 2024 and the 18th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1635, Roger Williams, the eventual founder of Rhode Island, was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident.

In 1888, the Washington Monument opened to the general public.

In 1967, guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara was executed for attempting to lead revolutionaries in Bolivia.

In 1986, the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" opened in London's West End.

In 2006, North Korea claimed it had performed its first nuclear test.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alastair Sim (1900-1976), actor; John Lennon (1940-1980), singer-songwriter; Jackson Browne (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Sharon Osbourne (1952- ), media personality; Tony Shalhoub (1953- ), actor; Scott Bakula (1954- ), actor; Mike Singletary (1958- ), football player; Guillermo del Toro (1964- ), director; Steve McQueen (1969- ), filmmaker; Annika Sorenstam (1970- ), golfer; Brandon Routh (1979- ), actor; George Kittle (1993- ), football player; Bella Hadid (1996- ), model.

TODAY'S FACT: John Lennon was first introduced to the round spectacles that became his signature look while filming the 1967 movie "How I Won the War." The glasses were part of his character's wardrobe, but Lennon continued wearing them after filming ended.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1915, Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting president to attend a World Series game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Making a film is like raising a child. You cannot raise a child to be liked by everyone. You raise a child to excel, and you teach the child to be true to his own nature. There will be people who'll dislike your child because he or she is who they are, and there will be people who'll love your child immensely for the very same reason." -- Guillermo del Toro

TODAY'S NUMBER: 36,491 -- marble bricks used to build the Washington Monument.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 2) and first quarter moon (Oct. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 282nd day of 2024 and the 17th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire leveled three square miles, leaving 100,000 homeless and more than 300 dead.

In 1945, President Harry Truman announced that the United States would share its knowledge of the atomic bomb exclusively with Britain and Canada.

In 2005, an earthquake on the border of India and Pakistan killed more than 75,000 people and left 3 million homeless.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883-1970), physiologist/physician; Frank Herbert (1920-1986), author; Harvey Pekar (1939-2010), writer; Jesse Jackson (1941- ), civil rights leader; Chevy Chase (1943- ), comedian/actor; R.L. Stine (1943- ), children's author; Sigourney Weaver (1949- ), actress; Darrell Hammond (1955- ), actor/comedian; Matt Damon (1970- ), actor; Nick Cannon (1980- ), actor/TV personality; Bruno Mars (1985- ), singer; William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (1993- ), race car driver; Bella Thorne (1997- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: On the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, a fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, (about 250 miles outside of Chicago) destroyed the town and claimed more than 1,200 lives.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1956, the New York Yankees' Don Larsen pitched the first and only perfect World Series game, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It is impossible to live in the past, difficult to live in the present and a waste to live in the future." -- Frank Herbert, "Dune"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $34.8 billion -- estimated cost (in 2024 dollars) of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs, through August 1945.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Oct. 2) and first quarter moon (Oct. 10).