ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 123rd day of 2017 and the 45th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

In 1921, West Virginia approved the first state sales tax.

In 1973, construction was completed on Chicago's Sears Tower (later renamed the Willis Tower), the tallest building in the world at the time.

In 2006, the jury in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiracy in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, recommended a sentence of life in prison.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), statesman/philosopher; Golda Meir (1898-1978), Israeli prime minister; Bing Crosby (1903-1977), singer/actor; Pete Seeger (1919-2014), singer-songwriter; Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989), boxer; James Brown (1933-2006), singer-songwriter; Frankie Valli (1934- ), singer; Greg Gumbel (1946- ), sportscaster; Amy Ryan (1969- ), actress; Bobby Cannavale (1970- ), actor; Christina Hendricks (1975- ), actress; Dule Hill (1975- ), actor; Cheryl Burke (1984- ), dancer.

TODAY'S FACT: Residents of Washington, D.C., did not receive the right to vote in presidential elections until the 23rd Amendment was passed in 1961.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1987, Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers played his final game, finishing with 30,026 points, 10,525 rebounds and 5,176 assists in his professional basketball (ABA and NBA) career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice." -- Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 23 -- hours of solitary confinement each day for prisoners at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, where Zacarias Moussaoui is imprisoned.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 2) and full moon (May 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 122nd day of 2017 and the 44th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1536, King Henry VIII of England had Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, arrested and imprisoned on charges of high treason.

In 1611, the King James Bible was published in London.

In 1918, General Motors Corp. purchased Chevrolet Motor Co.

In 1945, tens of thousands of German troops in Berlin surrendered to the Soviet Union's Red Army.

In 2007, the International Criminal Court issued the first two arrest warrants for individuals accused of war crimes in Darfur, Sudan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lorenz Hart (1895-1943), lyricist; Benjamin Spock (1903-1998), author/physician; Engelbert Humperdinck (1936- ), singer; Larry Gatlin (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Christine Baranski (1952- ), actress; Donatella Versace (1955- ), fashion designer; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (1972- ), wrestler/actor; David Beckham (1975- ), soccer player; Lily Allen (1985- ), singer-songwriter; Kyle Busch (1985- ), race car driver; Paul George (1990- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: King James VI became king of Scotland after the death of his father, Lord Darnley, and the imprisonment of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1567, when he was 13 months old.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1920, the Indianapolis ABCs defeated the Chicago American Giants, 4-2, in the first baseball game of the Negro National League.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The fact is that child rearing is a long, hard job, the rewards are not always immediately obvious, the work is undervalued, and parents are just as human and almost as vulnerable as their children." -- Benjamin Spock, "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,130 -- record-setting consecutive games streak by Lou Gehrig, "The Iron Horse" of the New York Yankees, which ended when he benched himself for poor play on this day in 1939. Cal Ripken Jr. surpassed Gehrig's consecutive games record in 1995.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (May 2).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 121st day of 2017 and the 43rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1840, the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, was issued in Great Britain.

In 1898, the U.S. Navy, led by Commodore George Dewey, defeated the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War.

In 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was established.

In 2011, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in a nighttime raid in Pakistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Martha "Calamity Jane" Burke (1852-1903), frontierswoman; Jack Paar (1918-2004), comedian/TV host; Joseph Heller (1923-1999), author/playwright; Scott Carpenter (1925-2013), astronaut; John Woo (1946- ), filmmaker; Tim McGraw (1967- ), singer-songwriter; Wes Anderson (1969- ), filmmaker; James Badge Dale (1978- ), actor; Wes Welker (1981- ), football player; Jamie Dornan (1982- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Japan formally annexed Korea in 1910 and held possession of the former "Hermit Kingdom" until after World War II.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics stole his 939th base, setting a new major-league record. Later that evening, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan threw his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If the chance ever comes to you again to fall in love, grab it, every time. You might always live to regret it, but you won't find anything to beat it, and you won't know if it will come to you once more." -- Joseph Heller, "God Knows"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,250 -- architectural height (in feet) of the Empire State Building in New York City, dedicated on this day in 1931.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 26) and first quarter moon (May 2).