Today is the 261st day of 2015 and the 90th day of summer.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slave owners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to free states.
In 1947, under National Security Act reorganization, the Air Force became an independent branch of the U.S. military.
In 2009, the final episode of the soap opera "The Guiding Light" aired, ending its 72-year broadcast run on radio and TV.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), author/lexicographer; Greta Garbo (1905-1990), actress; Agnes de Mille (1905-1993), dancer/choreographer; Jack Warden (1920-2006), actor; Joe Kubert (1926-2012), writer/illustrator; Scotty Bowman (1933- ), hockey coach; Frankie Avalon (1939- ), singer; Fred Willard (1939- ), actor/comedian; Rick Pitino (1952- ), basketball coach; James Gandolfini (1961-2013), actor; Lance Armstrong (1971- ), cyclist; Jada Pinkett Smith (1971- ), actress; Jason Sudeikis (1975- ), actor/comedian.
TODAY'S FACT: The National Security Act of 1947 established the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, Sammy Sosa became the first Major League Baseball player to hit more than 60 home runs in two seasons.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "We have had good and bad presidents, and it is a consoling reflection that the American Nation possesses such elements of prosperity that the bad presidents cannot destroy it, and have been able to do no more than slightly to retard the public's advancement." -- Henry Clay
TODAY'S NUMBER: $1 billion -- donation pledged "to United Nations causes" by media mogul Ted Turner on this day in 1998. Turner's United Nations Foundation donated its billionth dollar in 2006, $600 million of which came from Turner himself.
TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Sept. 12) and first quarter moon (Sept. 21).