ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 212th day of 2017 and the 42nd 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; Geoffrey Lewis (1935-2015), actor; 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 2012, American swimmer Michael Phelps broke Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina's long-standing career Olympic medal record, winning his 19th medal with a victory in the 4-x-200 relay.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable." -- Primo Levi, "If This Is a Man"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11.2 million -- estimated population of Cuba in 2016.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (July 30) and full moon (Aug. 7).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 211th day of 2017 and the 41st day of summer.

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

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a resolution establishing "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the United States.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act into law, 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: "Top of the Pops," the longest-running radio show in history at 42 years, was broadcast for the final time on BBC Two on this day in 2006.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1930, the Uruguayan national football team defeated Argentina to win the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years as I could in a day." -- Emily Bronte, "Wuthering Heights"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13,503 -- population of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States Census of 1790; the current population is estimated at 614,664. The city was founded on this day in 1729.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (July 30).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 210th day of 2017 and the 40th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1899, the first Hague Conventions defining the "laws of war" were signed.

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; Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898-1988), physicist; Clara Bow (1905-1965), actress; Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961), Swedish diplomat; 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; Wil Wheaton (1972- ), actor; Josh Radnor (1974- ), actor.

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 only 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: "The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage." -- Alexis de Tocqueville

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 23) and first quarter moon (July 30).