Today is the 131st day of 2015 and the 53rd day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
In 1894, the Pullman Strike began, involving more than 3,000 Chicago railroad car plant workers.
In 1987, the first heart-lung transplant was performed in Baltimore.
In 1997, the IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov with two wins, one loss and three draws in a six-game match.
In 1998, the first euro coins were minted in France.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer; Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972), actress; Martha Graham (1894-1991), dancer/choreographer; Salvador Dali (1904-1989), painter; Mike Lupica (1952- ), sportswriter; John Clayton (1954- ), sportswriter; Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), actress; Tim Blake Nelson (1964- ), actor; Cory Monteith (1982-2013), actor; Cam Newton (1989- ), football player.
TODAY'S FACT: The euro was originally set to be named the "European currency unit" (ECU, for short). But German-speakers protested that "ecu" sounded too much like "eh Kuh," which means "a cow" in German.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, a blizzard on Mount Everest led to the deaths of eight people during summit attempts. Journalist Jon Krakauer of Outside magazine published his first-hand recount of the events in the best-seller "Into Thin Air."
TODAY'S QUOTE: "We can what-if ourselves to death ... But what-if never does anybody any good. All any of us ever have ... is one thing, and we better make the most of it while we can: What is." -- Mike Lupica, "Miracle on 49th Street"
TODAY'S NUMBER: 150,000 -- members of the American Railway Union who became involved in the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it spread across the United States.
TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (May 11).