ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 140th day of 2017 and the 62nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which provided Western settlers free land for farms.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the U.S. patent for blue jeans.

In 1902, Cuba declared independence from the United States.

In 1969, the Battle of Hamburger Hill ended in South Vietnam.

In 2006, Nouri al-Maliki took office as prime minister of Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), author; John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), philosopher; William Fargo (1818-1881), Wells Fargo co-founder; Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997), actor; Joe Cocker (1944-2014), singer-songwriter; Cher (1946- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Ted Allen (1965- ), TV personality; Timothy Olyphant (1968- ), actor; Tony Stewart (1971- ), race car driver; Busta Rhymes (1972- ), rapper; Matt Czuchry (1977- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1916, the Saturday Evening Post published its first issue featuring a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage") on the cover.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer by a nose in the 114th Preakness Stakes, the horse race's closest margin.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion." -- John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 270 million -- acres of U.S. land given away through the Homestead Act.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 18) and new moon (May 25).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 139th day of 2017 and the 61st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for alleged adultery.

In 1921, the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, setting a national quota system for immigration.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe performed an infamously seductive rendition of "Happy Birthday" for President John F. Kennedy, a week before his birthday.

In 1963, the New York Post Sunday Magazine published the first excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), North Vietnamese leader; Malcolm X (1925-1965), civil rights leader; Nora Ephron (1941-2012), filmmaker/writer; Pete Townshend (1945- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Andre the Giant (1946-1993), actor/wrestler; Grace Jones (1948- ), singer/actress; Archie Manning (1949- ), football player; Joey Ramone (1951-2001), singer-songwriter; Kevin Garnett (1976- ), basketball player; Georges St-Pierre (1981- ), mixed martial artist; Rebecca Hall (1982- ), actress; Sam Smith (1992- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: In his late 20s, future Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh lived in Paris, where he worked retouching photos.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, Willy T. Ribbs became the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he's the victim and make the victim look like he's the criminal." -- Malcolm X

TODAY'S NUMBER: 39 -- months that Anne Boleyn was married to Henry VIII before her execution.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 18) and new moon (May 25).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 138th day of 2017 and the 60th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1917, the United States passed the Selective Service Act, a conscription law requiring registration of all men aged 21 to 30 who were not already in the military.

In 1974, India successfully tested its first nuclear weapon.

In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 20 states filed an antitrust case against Microsoft.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Frank Capra (1897-1991), filmmaker; Perry Como (1912-2001), singer; Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991), ballet dancer; Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), Roman Catholic leader; Brooks Robinson (1937- ), baseball player; Reggie Jackson (1946- ), baseball player; George Strait (1952- ), singer/guitarist; Chow Yun-Fat (1955- ), actor; Yannick Noah (1960- ), tennis player; Tina Fey (1970- ), actress/comedian; Jack Johnson (1975- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Five countries (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China) have officially acknowledged capability to deploy nuclear weapons. At least four others (India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea) have nuclear capability but are not signatories to nuclear non-proliferation treaties.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, 40-year-old left-hander Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the oldest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Once the truth is denied to human beings, it is pure illusion to try to set them free. Truth and freedom either go together hand in hand or together they perish in misery." -- Pope John Paul II

TODAY'S NUMBER: $85.3 billion -- value of Microsoft sales in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (May 18).