ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 219th day of 2020 and the 48th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, the "Great Debate" over the future of the U.S. Constitution began at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

In 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed some voting qualifications thought to disenfranchise black voters.

In 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), poet; Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), biologist/pharmacologist; Lucille Ball (1911-1989), actress/comedian; Robert Mitchum (1917-1997), actor; Andy Warhol (1928-1987), artist/filmmaker; Michelle Yeoh (1962- ), actress; David Robinson (1965- ), basketball player; Mike Greenberg (1967- ), sportscaster; M. Night Shyamalan (1970- ), filmmaker; Vera Farmiga (1973- ), actress; Max Kellerman (1973- ), sportscaster.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1991, CERN computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee published the first website and webpage, which offered information about the World Wide Web project.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1963, Philadelphia's NBA team changed its name from the Nationals to the 76ers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "And the parson made it his text that week, and he said likewise, / That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies, / That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright, / But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight." -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Grandmother"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,862 -- ring count of Prometheus, a bristlecone pine tree cut down for research purposes on this day in 1964 by U.S. Forest Service personnel in eastern Nevada. Scientists believe the tree may have been more than 5,000 years old, making it the oldest non-clonal organism ever discovered.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 3) and last quarter moon (Aug. 11).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 218th day of 2020 and the 47th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal was installed on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan began to fire 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers for violating his order to return to work.

In 2010, a cave-in at the San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chile, trapped 33 miners 2,300 feet underground.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), author/poet; Joseph Merrick aka "The Elephant Man" (1862-1890); John Huston (1906-1987), actor/director; Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), astronaut; Herb Brooks (1937-2003), hockey coach; Loni Anderson (1945- ), actress; David Baldacci (1960- ), novelist; Patrick Ewing (1962- ), basketball player; Adam Yauch (1964-2012), rapper; James Gunn (1970- ), filmmaker; Travie McCoy (1981- ), rapper; Lolo Jones (1982- ), Olympic athlete.

TODAY'S FACT: Norma Jeane Baker began using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946, but did not legally change her name until 1956.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies hit his 2,427th career single, breaking Honus Wagner's National League record. Rose would finish his career with 3,215 singles, a major-league record that still stands.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched." -- Guy de Maupassant, "My Uncle Sosthenes"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 91 -- minutes legendary magician Harry Houdini spent underwater in a sealed coffin before emerging unharmed, on this day in 1926. The event was Houdini's last public escape.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 3) and last quarter moon (Aug. 11).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 217th day of 2020 and the 46th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, prompting Great Britain to declare war on Germany.

In 1944, the Gestapo arrested diarist Anne Frank and the other inhabitants of the "Secret Annex" in Amsterdam.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation establishing the Department of Energy.

In 1993, two Los Angeles police officers were sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights.

In 2019, nine people were killed and 26 were injured in a mass shooting outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), poet; Louis Vuitton (1821-1892), fashion designer; Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900-2002), queen consort of the United Kingdom; Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), musician; Billy Bob Thornton (1955- ), director/actor; Barack Obama (1961- ), 44th U.S. president; Roger Clemens (1962- ), baseball player; Dennis Lehane (1965- ), author; Daniel Dae Kim (1968- ), actor; Jeff Gordon (1971- ), race car driver/announcer; Kurt Busch (1978- ), race car driver; Meghan Markle (1981- ), actress/Duchess of Sussex; Greta Gerwig (1983- ), filmmaker.

TODAY'S FACT: "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson was the No. 1 song on the first Billboard Hot 100 chart, published on this day in 1958.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, 32-year-old Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees became the youngest player ever to hit 500 career home runs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope." -- Barack Obama

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 -- Cy Young Awards won by pitcher Roger Clemens, the most in MLB history.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 3) and last quarter moon (Aug. 11).