Today is the 233rd day of 2012 and the 62nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1911, the first around-the-world telegram was sent, traveling 28,000 miles in 16.5 minutes.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, allocating nearly $1 billion in an unprecedented anti-poverty measure.

In 1977, the United States launched Voyager 2, an unmanned satellite intended to relay data and photographs of planets.

In 1998, the United States attacked suspected terrorist bases in Sudan in retaliation for U.S. embassy bombings earlier in the month.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), 23rd U.S. president; H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), writer; Al Lopez (1908-2005), baseball player/manager; Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), architect; Connie Chung (1946- ), journalist; Robert Plant (1948- ), rock singer; Al Roker (1954- ), TV personality; Joan Allen (1956- ), actress; Amy Adams (1974- ), actress; Demi Lovato (1992- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1920, the American Professional Football Conference (later the APFA, the forerunner of the modern NFL) was founded in Canton, Ohio.

TODAY'S FACT: Before entering politics, President Lyndon Johnson taught public speaking and debate at a high school in Houston.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." -- H.P. Lovecraft

TODAY'S NUMBER: 55 -- languages in which greetings, along with nature sounds and music samples, were encoded on a 12-inch, gold-plated copper phonograph record that was launched into space aboard the Voyager 2 in 1977.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 17) and first quarter moon (Aug. 24).

Today is the 232nd day of 2012 and the 61st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1839, details of Louis Daguerre's pioneering photographic process were first released in Paris.

In 1934, a German plebiscite approved giving then-Chancellor Adolf Hitler the additional office of president.

In 2010, the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Coco Chanel (1883-1971), fashion designer; Ogden Nash (1902-1971), writer; Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), publisher; Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), Star Trek creator; Bill Shoemaker (1931-2003), jockey; Bill Clinton (1946- ), 42nd U.S. president; John Stamos (1963- ), actor; Kyra Sedgwick (1965- ), actress; Clay Walker (1969- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1909, Louis Schwitzer won the first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but two drivers and several bystanders died in related accidents.

TODAY'S FACT: President Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III, after his biological father, who died a few months before Clinton was born. The future president legally changed his surname to Clinton (his stepfather's surname) as a teenager.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I do not like to get the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons." -- Ogden Nash

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11 -- Triple Crown horse races won by thoroughbred jockey Bill Shoemaker. He never won all three jewels in the Triple Crown in the same year.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 17) and first quarter moon (Aug. 24).

Today is the 231st day of 2012 and the 60th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. constitution was ratified, extending the right to vote to women.

In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel "Lolita" was published in the United States.

In 1964, in response to its policy of apartheid, South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympic Games.

In 2008, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf resigned under threat of impeachment.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809), explorer; Shelley Winters (1922-2006), actress; Rosalynn Carter (1927- ), first lady; Roberto Clemente (1934-1972), baseball player; Roman Polanski (1933- ), filmmaker; Robert Redford (1936- ), actor/director; Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), actor; Edward Norton (1969- ), actor/director; Christian Slater (1969- ), actor; Andy Samberg (1978- ), actor/comedian.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, Larry Bird announced his retirement from the NBA after 13 seasons.

TODAY'S FACT: A greater percentage of women than men now vote in most U.S. elections: in 2008, 55.7 percent of men reported voting, compared to 60.4 percent of women.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

TODAY'S NUMBER: 300,000 -- copies of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" that were sold in the first three weeks after its U.S. publication.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 17) and first quarter moon (Aug. 24).