Today is the 163rd day of 2016 and the 84th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1770, Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia by accidentally running aground on a shoal.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, confronted by National Guard troops, allowed the University of Alabama to be desegregated.

In 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire at a busy intersection in Saigon, South Vietnam, in protest of the government's religious persecution.

In 2001, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed by lethal injection.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Richard Strauss (1864-1949), composer/conductor; Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997), explorer/inventor/writer; Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach; William Styron (1925-2006), author; Gene Wilder (1933- ), actor; Joe Montana (1956- ), football player; Hugh Laurie (1959- ), actor; Peter Dinklage (1969- ), actor; Joshua Jackson (1978- ), actor; Diana Taurasi (1982- ), basketball player; Shia LaBeouf (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution stating that Italian inventor Antonio Meucci, who demonstrated his "telettrofono" device in New York in 1860, should be recognized for his work in the invention of the telephone.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1919, Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win horse racing's Triple Crown.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There are friends one makes at a youthful age in whom one simply rejoices, for whom one possesses a love and loyalty mysteriously lacking in the friendships made in after-years, no matter how genuine." -- William Styron, "Sophie's Choice"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 133,000 -- square mileage of the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system, made up of more than 2,500 individual reefs and 900 islands.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 4) and first quarter moon (June 12).

Today is the 162nd day of 2016 and the 83rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, Dr. Robert Smith and Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, Ohio.

In 1964, the U.S. Senate voted to end a filibuster staged in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, clearing the way for the bill's eventual approval.

In 1967, Israel and Syria agreed to a cease-fire, ending the Six-Day War.

In 2003, NASA launched the Mars exploration rover Spirit from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952), actress; Prince Philip (1921- ), husband of Queen Elizabeth II; Judy Garland (1922-1969), actress/singer; Nat Hentoff (1925- ), historian/author; Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), author/illustrator; Jeanne Tripplehorn (1963- ), actress; Elizabeth Hurley (1965- ), model/actress; Bill Burr (1968- ), actor/comedian; Tara Lipinski (1982- ), figure skater; Andy Schleck (1985- ), cyclist; Kate Upton (1992- ), model/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: NASA's original mission plan for the Spirit called for the rover to last 90 sols (solar days on Mars) and to drive a total of 0.4 miles. Spirit actually operated for approximately 2,208 sols and covered 4.8 miles before getting stuck in soft soil.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Affirmed won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the 11th horse to win horse racing's Triple Crown.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "One of the few graces of getting old -- and God knows there are few graces -- is that if you've worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happens: The body gets old but the creative mechanism is refreshed, smoothed and oiled and honed. That is the grace. That is the splendid grace." -- Maurice Sendak

TODAY'S NUMBER: 15 -- age of Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds when he pitched two-thirds of an inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on this day in 1944, becoming the youngest player to ever take the field in a Major League Baseball game.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 4) and first quarter moon (June 12).

Today is the 161st day of 2016 and the 82nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1790, John Barry's "The Philadelphia Spelling Book" became the first copyrighted work in the United States.

In 1856, nearly 500 Mormon "handcart pioneers" began a pilgrimage on foot from Iowa City, Iowa, to Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1954, Army counsel Joseph Welch confronted Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings.

In 1999, Yugoslavia signed a peace treaty pledging that Serbian forces would withdraw from Kosovo in 11 days, thus ending the Kosovo War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Cole Porter (1891-1964), composer; Robert Cummings (1910-1990), actor; Les Paul (1915-2009), musician/inventor; Robert McNamara (1916-2009), World Bank head/U.S. secretary of defense; Jackie Wilson (1934-1984), singer-songwriter; Dick Vitale (1939- ), sportscaster; Gregory Maguire (1954- ), author; Michael J. Fox (1961- ), actor; Aaron Sorkin (1961- ), screenwriter/producer; Johnny Depp (1963- ), actor; Natalie Portman (1981- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Legendary guitarist Les Paul is the only person to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

TODAY'S SPORTS: Secretariat, who claimed horse racing's Triple Crown on this day in 1973, was one of three non-human athletes included in ESPN's list of the 100 greatest 20th-century athletes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "People who don't know anything tend to make up fake rules, the real rules being considerably more difficult to learn." -- Aaron Sorkin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5 -- weeks that Robert McNamara served as the president of Ford Motor Co. before he was appointed the secretary of defense in 1960. McNamara was the first Ford president who was not related to founder Henry Ford.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 4) and first quarter moon (June 12).