"Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance.

1. There is a 20-percent chance of showers today with a high of 63, according to the National Weather Service. There is a 30-percent chance of showers this evening with a low of 52.

2. The Alcott School Advisory Council is meeting today at 5:15 p.m.; Board of Selectmen is meeting at 7 p.m.; Community Preservation Committee is meeting at 7:40 p.m.; Board of Assessors is meeting at 7:30 p.m.

3. The Trinitarian Congregational Church is holding a screening of a Dhamma Brothers documentary tonight at 7 p.m. that "tells a startling story of human potential and transformation" as it follows a group of maximum-security prisoners in Alabama over a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. 

4. Healing Oasis for Healers: Spend your lunch hour "meeting and sharing with others who tend bodies, minds, and souls" at the Women's Well on COmmonwealth Avenue.

5. On Nov. 14, 1851, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" was published for the first time. Though the novel has since become Melville's best known work, it was relatively unsuccessful during the author's life in comparison to his earlier works. The epic style of "Moby Dick" was heavily influenced by Melville's friend and contemporary Nathaniel Hawthorne.