Today is the 134th day of 2015 and the 56th day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1607, the Virginia Company of London established a colony at Jamestown, Virginia.
In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St. Louis and set out on their historic expedition to explore the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1940, the Netherlands surrendered to Nazi Germany.
In 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed during a ceremony in Tel Aviv.
In 1973, Skylab, the first American space station, was launched into orbit.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Otto Klemperer (1885-1973), conductor/composer; Bobby Darin (1936-1973), singer-songwriter/actor; George Lucas (1944- ), filmmaker; Robert Zemeckis (1951- ), filmmaker; David Byrne (1952- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Tim Roth (1961- ), actor; Cate Blanchett (1969- ), actress; Sofia Coppola (1971- ), filmmaker; Amber Tamblyn (1983- ), actress; Mark Zuckerberg (1984- ), programmer/entrepreneur; Clay Matthews III (1986- ), football player.
TODAY'S FACT: The United States paid a total of $15 million for the entire Louisiana Purchase -- a little more than $18 per square mile.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1913, Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson ended his scoreless pitching streak at 55 and 2/3 innings, setting a record that stood for 55 years.
TODAY'S QUOTE: " I wouldn't be surprised if poetry -- poetry in the broadest sense, in the sense of a world filled with metaphor, rhyme and recurring patterns, shapes and designs -- is how the world works. The world isn't logical; it's a song." -- David Byrne, "Bicycle Diaries"
TODAY'S NUMBER: 108 -- Virginia Company members who set out from London to establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what would become the United States.
TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 11) and new moon (May 17).