Today is the 173rd day of 2014 and the second day of summer.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1815, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne for the second time.
In 1870, Congress created the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the GI Bill, providing benefits to veterans.
In 1945, the Battle for Okinawa ended in an Allied victory after 83 days of fighting.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a bill that lowered the federal voting age to 18.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001), aviator/author; Billy Wilder (1906-2002), director; Bill Blass (1922-2002), fashion designer; Kris Kristofferson (1936- ), singer/actor; Meryl Streep (1949- ), actress; Bruce Campbell (1958- ), actor; Randy Couture (1963- ), mixed martial artist/actor; Dan Brown (1964- ), author; Kurt Warner (1971- ), football player; Carson Daly (1973- ), TV personality; Dan Wheldon (1978-2011), race car driver.
TODAY'S FACT: After 18- to 20-year-olds were enfranchised, the voter-participation rate fell to 55.2 percent for the 1972 presidential election, from 60.8 percent of eligible voters in 1968.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1937, Joe Louis knocked out Jim Braddock in the eighth round, becoming the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion since Jack Johnson in 1915.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "Gift From the Sea"
TODAY'S NUMBER: 49 -- percentage of U.S. college students who were war veterans in 1947, marking the peak year of the GI Bill education program.
TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (June 19) and new moon (June 27).