Today is the 212th day of 2014 and the 41st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, trading on the New York Stock Exchange stopped in response to the outbreak of World War I. It did not resume until December of that year.

In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted the first close-up photographs of the moon.

In 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the START 1 treaty, an agreement to reduce both countries' nuclear arms stockpiles.

In 2006, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro underwent surgery and transferred presidential power to his brother Raul.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Milton Friedman (1912-2006), economist; Primo Levi (1919-1987), chemist/author; Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1951- ), tennis player; Michael Biehn (1956- ), actor; Mark Cuban (1958- ), Dallas Mavericks owner; Wesley Snipes (1962- ), actor; J.K. Rowling (1965- ), author; Zac Brown (1978- ), musician; B.J. Novak (1979- ), actor; DeMarcus Ware (1982- ), football player; Charlie Carver (1988- ), actor; A.J. Green (1988- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The first U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins on this day in 1790, for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1961, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a tie for the first time, when officials in Boston called the game with a 1-1 score after the ninth inning due to rain.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing." -- Milton Friedman

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11 million -- estimated population of Cuba in 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 26) and first quarter moon (Aug. 3).

Today is the 211th day of 2014 and the 40th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1619, America's first legislative assembly met in Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon released subpoenaed White House recordings related to the Watergate cover-up.

In 1975, former Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from suburban Detroit.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Emily Bronte (1818-1848), author/poet; Henry Ford (1863-1947), industrialist/automaker; Casey Stengel (1890-1975), baseball player/manager; Bud Selig (1934- ), baseball commissioner; Paul Anka (1941- ), singer-songwriter; Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947- ), actor/former governor; Laurence Fishburne (1961- ), actor; Lisa Kudrow (1963- ), actress; Terry Crews (1968- ), actor; Christopher Nolan (1970- ), filmmaker; Hilary Swank (1974- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a resolution establishing "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the United States on this day in 1956.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2002, Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." -- Henry Ford

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 -- age at which Emily Bronte finished writing "Wuthering Heights."

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 26) and first quarter moon (Aug. 3).

Today is the 210th day of 2014 and the 39th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1948, the first Olympic Games since 1936 began in London.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA.

In 1965, the first 4,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division arrived in Vietnam.

In 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), writer/historian/political scientist; Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Italian dictator; Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat (1905-1961); Elizabeth Dole (1936- ), U.S. senator; Peter Jennings (1938-2005), TV news anchor; Ken Burns (1953- ), documentary filmmaker; Tim Gunn (1953- ), TV personality; Martina McBride (1966- ), singer-songwriter; Josh Radnor (1974- ), actor; Ryan Braun (1980- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: General Motors Corp. acquired the Cadillac Automobile Co. for $4.5 million in GM stock on this day in 1909.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, Bill Mueller of the Boston Red Sox became the first major league batter in history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game. The Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers 14-7.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was." -- Dag Hammarskjold

TODAY'S NUMBER: 700 million -- estimated number of people worldwide who watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer on television.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 26) and first quarter moon (Aug. 3).