SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

Today is the 269th day of 2021 and the fifth day of autumn.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was named the first U.S. secretary of state, and John Jay was named the first chief justice of the United States.

In 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts met in the first televised presidential debate.

In 1983, Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov correctly dismissed an early warning system report of an American nuclear missile launch as a computer error.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the NC-17 rating, replacing the stigmatized X rating for films intended for viewers aged 17 and older.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Johnny Appleseed (1774- 1845), environmentalist; Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), physiologist; Winsor McCay (1867-1934), animator/ cartoonist; T.S. Eliot (1888- 1965), writer; George Gershwin (1898-1937), composer; Jack LaLanne (1914-2011), fitness expert; Marty Robbins (1925-1982), singer-songwriter; Olivia Newton-John (1948- ), actress/singer; Linda Hamilton (1956- ), actress; Jim Caviezel (1968- ), actor; Serena Williams (1981- ), tennis player.

TODAY’S FACT: “Abbey Road,” the last album for which all four members of The Beatles participated in the recording sessions, was released on this day in 1969.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Australia II won the America’s Cup, becoming the first non-American winner in the cup’s 132-year history.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Luck has nothing to do with it. I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” -- Serena Williams

TODAY’S NUMBER: 732 -- performances of “West Side Story” during its original Broadway run, which opened on this day in 1957 and closed on June 27, 1959.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 20) and last quarter moon (Sept. 28).

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

Today is the 270th day of 2021 and the sixth day of autumn.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1908, the first Model T automobile left the Ford factory in Detroit.

In 1954, “Tonight Starring Steve Allen,” the latenight talk show that eventually became “The Tonight Show,” premiered on NBC.

In 1962, Rachel Carson’s environmental science book “Silent Spring” was published.

In 1964, the Warren Commission report was released, stating that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Nast (1840-1902), cartoonist; Jim Thompson (1906-1977), author; Jayne Meadows (1919- 2015), actress; Arthur Penn (1922-2010), filmmaker; Earl Rudolph “Bud” Powell (1924-1966), jazz pianist; Wilford Brimley (1934- 2020), actor; Dick Schaap (1934-2001), sportscaster; Meat Loaf (1947- ), singer-songwriter; Shaun Cassidy (1958- ), singer/actor; Marc Maron (1963- ), actor/ comedian; Gwyneth Paltrow (1972- ), actress; Lil Wayne (1982- ), rapper; Avril Lavigne (1984- ), singer.

TODAY’S FACT: In 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, served as the U.S. capital for one day, as the Continental Congress met there in the wake of the British capture of Philadelphia.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 69th and 70th home runs in the last game of his record-setting season. McGwire admitted to steroid use in 2010.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot: Things are not as they seem.” -- Jim Thompson

TODAY’S NUMBER: 8 -- inches of annual precipitation in the coastal regions of Antarctica. The inland portion of Antarctica receives even less, qualifying the continent as a desert.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 20) and last quarter moon (Sept. 28).