UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC
Today is the 219th day of 2013 and the 48th day of summer.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established.
In 1942, the U.S. 1st Marines Division landed on the island of Guadalcanal, marking the first major American offensive of World War II.
In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in response to reported Vietnamese attacks.
In 1998, U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya were bombed.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ralph Bunche (1904-1971), activist/Nobel laureate; Tobin Bell (1942- ), actor; Garrison Keillor (1942- ), writer/entertainer; David Duchovny (1960- ), actor; Harold Perrineau (1963- ), actor; Michael Shannon (1974- ), actor; Charlize Theron (1975- ), actress; Sidney Crosby (1987- ), hockey player; Mike Trout (1991- ), baseball player.
TODAY'S FACT: In 1947, Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of five crashed into a reef at Raroia, near Tahiti, aboard their balsa wood raft, Kon-Tiki. The 4,300-mile, 101-day voyage from Peru was undertaken to prove that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian Islands.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 756th career home run, surpassing the record set by Hank Aaron.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "One reads books in order to gain the privilege of living more than one life. People who don't read are trapped in a mine shaft, even if they think the sun is shining." -- Garrison Keillor
TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,368 -- height (in feet) of the wire suspended between the World Trade Center towers and walked by French high-wire artist Philippe Petit on this day in 1974. Petit walked back and forth, sat and even danced on the 200-foot-long wire for 45 minutes before surrendering to police.
TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 6) and first quarter moon (Aug. 14).