Today, Tuesday, 18th of October of 2016 is the 292nd day of the year
There are 74 days remaining until the end of the year.
21 days until Election Day!
6 days left to Register to Vote!
The sun will rise in San Francisco at 7:23 this morning
and the sun will set at 6:27 this evening.
Today we will have 11 hours and 4 minutes of daylight.
The solar transit, or solar noon, will be at 12:55 pm.
The first high tide was at 2:03 am
and the next high tide at 1:32 pm.
The first low tide will be at 7:11 am
and the next low tide at 7:59 pm.
The Moon is 91.7 per cent illuminated, a waning gibbous moon.
The next phase will be the Last Quarter Moon in 4 days Saturday the 22nd of October of 2016 at 12:14 pm
We'l have a New Moon in 12 days on Sunday the 30th of October of 2016 at 10:38 am
The First Quarter Moon of next month will fall in 20 days on Monday the 7th of November of 2016 at 12:51 pm
and our next Full Moon will come in 26 days on Monday 14th of November of 2016 at 6:52 am
Today is...
National Chocolate Cupcake Day
National Face Your Fears Day
National No Beard Day
National Pharmacy Technician Day
Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity
World Menopause Day
It's also...
Alaska Day
Independence Day in Azerbaijan, celebrating the independence of Azerbaijan from Soviet Union in 1991.
Necktie Day in Croatia
Persons Day in Canada
If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! Happy Birthday also to...
1870 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese author and scholar (d. 1966)
1897 – Isabel Briggs Myers, American theorist and author (d. 1980)
1898 – Lotte Lenya, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1981)
1918 – Bobby Troup, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1999)
1919 – Anita O'Day, American singer (d. 2006)
1919 – Pierre Trudeau, Canadian lawyer, academic, and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
1920 – Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, singer, and politician, 9th Greek Minister of Culture (d. 1994)
1921 – Jesse Helms, American soldier, journalist, and politician (d. 2008)
1923 – Jessie Mae Hemphill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
1924 – Buddy MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2014)
1925 – Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician, 1st President of Albania (d. 2011)
1926 – Chuck Berry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1926 – Klaus Kinski, German-American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1927 – George C. Scott, American actor and director (d. 1999)
1929 – Violeta Chamorro, Nicaraguan publisher and politician, President of Nicaragua
1935 – Peter Boyle, American actor (d. 2006)
1939 – Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
1947 – Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1997)
1948 – Ntozake Shange, American author, poet, and playwright
1951 – Terry McMillan, American author and screenwriter
1956 – Martina Navratilova, Czech-American tennis player and coach
1960 – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian martial artist, actor, and producer, and screenwriter
1960 – Erin Moran, American actress
1961 – Wynton Marsalis, American trumpet player, composer, and educator
1961 – Rick Moody, American author and composer
1973 – James Foley, American photographer and journalist (d. 2014)
1979 – Ne-Yo, American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor
1984 – Esperanza Spalding, American singer-songwriter and bassist
1987 – Zac Efron, American actor and singer
On this day in history...
320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).
1648 – Boston Shoemakers form first American labor organization.
1775 – African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.
1851 – Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
1898 – The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain.
1921 – The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
1922 – The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service for the U.K.
1929 – The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.
1945 – Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva "Evita" Duarte.
1954 – Texas Instruments announces the first transistor radio.
1979 – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.