ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 234th day of 2017 and the 64th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1851, the American yacht America won the first America's Cup.

In 1864, the first Geneva Convention, which established protections for those wounded in active warfare, was signed by 12 European nations.

In 1902, the Cadillac Automobile Co. was founded.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act welfare reform into law.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Claude Debussy (1862-1918), composer; George Herriman (1880-1944), cartoonist; Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), author; Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), film director/actress; Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), author; Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012), general; Valerie Harper (1939- ), actress; Bill Parcells (1941- ), football coach; David Chase (1945- ), screenwriter/producer; Tori Amos (1963- ), singer-songwriter; Layne Staley (1967-2002), singer-songwriter; Kristen Wiig (1973- ), actress/comedian; James Corden (1978- ), TV personality.

TODAY'S FACT: The Comics Journal named George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" the best American comic strip of the 20th century in 1999.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A's, becoming the first major league pitcher to reach 5,000 strikeouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." -- Ray Bradbury

TODAY'S NUMBER: 196 -- nations that have acceded to the Geneva Conventions.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 21) and first quarter moon (Aug. 29).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 233rd day of 2017 and the 63rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held the first of their seven debates.

In 1863, pro-Confederate guerillas led by William Quantrill raided the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing more than 150 men and boys.

In 1911, an employee stole the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre in Paris. It was recovered two years later.

In 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

In 1991, a coup by Communist hard-liners in the Soviet Union collapsed on the third day.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William "Count" Basie (1904-1984), musician; Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999), basketball player; Kenny Rogers (1938- ), singer-songwriter; Peter Weir (1944- ), film director; Joe Strummer (1952-2002), musician; Kim Cattrall (1956- ), actress; Carrie-Anne Moss (1967- ), actress; Sergey Brin (1973- ), Google co-founder; Kelis (1979- ), singer; Usain Bolt (1986- ), Olympic sprinter; Hayden Panettiere (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Digital scans of the "Mona Lisa" in 2007 revealed that da Vinci had originally given his subject eyebrows and more prominent eyelashes, which had faded over time or had been lost to restoration efforts.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1947, the first National Little League Tournament (later renamed the Little League World Series) was held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, featuring only local teams. The Williamsport team defeated the team from Lock Haven by a score of 16-7.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The way you get a better world is, you don't put up with substandard anything." -- Joe Strummer

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 million -- people who view Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" at the Louvre in Paris annually.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Aug. 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 232nd day of 2017 and the 62nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1940, exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, allocating nearly $1 billion in an unprecedented anti-poverty measure.

In 1977, NASA launched the unmanned space probe Voyager 2 to relay data and photographs of the outer solar system and interstellar space.

In 1998, the United States attacked suspected terrorist bases in Sudan in retaliation for U.S. embassy bombings earlier in the month.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), 23rd U.S. president; H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), author; Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), architect; Don King (1931- ), boxing promoter; Isaac Hayes (1942-2008), singer-songwriter; Connie Chung (1946- ), journalist; Robert Plant (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Al Roker (1954- ), TV personality; Joan Allen (1956- ), actress; David O. Russell (1958- ), filmmaker; Amy Adams (1974- ), actress; Andrew Garfield (1983- ), actor; Demi Lovato (1992- ), singer/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Before entering politics, President Lyndon Johnson taught public speaking and debate at a high school in Houston.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1938, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees hit the 23rd grand slam of his career, setting a record that stood for 75 years, until it was broken by Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez in 2013.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth or shapes it into a garment will starve in the process." -- Benjamin Harrison

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28,000 -- miles traveled by the first telegram sent around the world, on this day in 1911. The message reached its origination point, the dispatch room on the 17th floor of the New York Times Building, in 16.5 minutes.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 14) and new moon (Aug. 21).