ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 306th day of 2024 and the 41st day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was exhibited to the public for the first time.

In 1800, John Adams became the first president to reside in the newly constructed "President's House" (later named the White House).

In 1870, the Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce (later renamed the National Weather Service) made its first meteorological forecast.

In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty went into effect, formally establishing the European Union.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Stephen Crane (1871-1900), writer; James Kilpatrick (1920-2010), journalist; Gary Player (1935- ), golfer; Lyle Lovett (1957- ), singer-songwriter; Tim Cook (1960- ), business executive; Anthony Kiedis (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Toni Collette (1972- ), actress; Jenny McCarthy (1972- ), actress; Logan Marshall-Green (1976- ), actor; Penn Badgley (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: John Adams was the only president elected as a member of the Federalist Party.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1959, NHL goalie Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens suffered a severe laceration across his face while blocking a shot and was taken to the locker room for stitches. He returned to the game wearing the first goalie face mask, a homemade fiberglass mask of his own design.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To be able to create a character and tell a story is a crazy way to make a living. I feel so lucky to be able to do this." -- Toni Collette

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12,000 -- total square footage of Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Nov. 1).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 305th day of 2024 and the 40th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his "Ninety-Five Theses" on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, in protest of the selling of papal indulgences.

In 1926, magician Harry Houdini died of complications from a ruptured appendix.

In 1941, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, was declared complete.

In 1957, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. established its first American headquarters in Hollywood, California.

In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two bodyguards.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Keats (1795-1821), poet; Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927), Girl Scouts founder; Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), Chinese/Taiwanese leader; Dale Evans (1912-2001), actress/singer-songwriter; Dan Rather (1931- ), TV journalist; Michael Landon (1936-1991), actor; John Candy (1950-1994), actor; Jane Pauley (1950- ), TV journalist; Nick Saban (1951- ), football coach; Peter Jackson (1961- ), filmmaker; Dermot Mulroney (1963- ), actor; Vanilla Ice (1967- ), rapper; Piper Perabo (1976- ), actress; Willow Smith (2000- ), actress/singer.

TODAY'S FACT: An outspoken critic of clerical celibacy, Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, in 1525. They had six children together.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?" -- John Keats

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 billion -- estimated population of the world on Oct. 31, 2011, which was officially designated the "Day of Seven Billion" by the United Nations Population Fund.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 24) and new moon (Nov. 1).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 304th day of 2024 and the 39th day of autumn.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1811, Jane Austen published her first novel, "Sense and Sensibility," under the pseudonym "a Lady."

In 1890, Oakland, California, became one of the first jurisdictions in the country to enact an anti-drug law, which banned non-prescription opium, morphine and cocaine.

In 1938, Orson Welles' radio production of "War of the Worlds" created panic among listeners who believed they were actually listening to reports of a Martian invasion.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush opened the Madrid Conference, the first direct, official peace talks to include Israel and all its Arab neighbors.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Adams (1735-1826), second U.S. president; William Halsey (1882-1959), U.S. admiral/fleet commander; Ezra Pound (1885-1972), poet/critic; Charles Atlas (1892-1972), bodybuilder; Grace Slick (1939- ), singer; Henry Winkler (1945- ), actor; Harry Hamlin (1951- ), actor; Diego Maradona (1960-2020), soccer player; Larry Wilmore (1961- ), actor/comedian; Gavin Rossdale (1965- ), singer/songwriter; Nia Long (1970- ), actress; Matthew Morrison (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Cocaine was not nationally regulated in the United States until 1914, when the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title by knocking out George Foreman in the eighth round of the "Rumble in the Jungle."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Literature is news that stays news." -- Ezra Pound, "ABC of Reading"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 59,525 -- weight (in pounds) of "Tsar Bomba," the Soviet hydrogen bomb detonated in a test on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in northern Russia on this day in 1961. With a blast yield of 50 to 58 megatons of TNT, the 26-foot-long bomb remains the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Oct. 24) and new moon (Nov. 1).