ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 135th day of 2017 and the 57th day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1918, the United States launched its first regular airmail service.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female U.S. Army generals.
In 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and left permanently paralyzed below the waist while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Maryland.
In 1988, Soviet troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), author; Pierre Curie (1859-1906), physicist; Richard J. Daley (1902-1976), politician; Jasper Johns (1930- ), artist; Madeleine Albright (1937- ), former secretary of state; Roger Ailes (1940- ), news executive; Brian Eno (1948- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Chazz Palminteri (1952- ), actor; George Brett (1953- ), baseball player; Dan Patrick (1956- ), sportscaster; Emmitt Smith (1969- ), football player; Ray Lewis (1975- ), football player; Andy Murray (1987- ), tennis player.
TODAY'S FACT: Former U.S. presidents and their spouses enjoy lifetime mail "franking" privileges, meaning their mail can be sent without postage, provided it is nonpolitical.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Smarty Jones won the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race by a record margin of 11 1/2 lengths.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The world's a stage, they say; but the show ain't always amusing, by a long chalk, and sometimes I wish I didn't have a reserved seat." -- L. Frank Baum (writing as Edith van Dyne), "Aunt Jane's Nieces"
TODAY'S NUMBER: 36,899 -- McDonald's restaurants worldwide in 2016. The first McDonald's restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California, on this day in 1940.
TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 10) and last quarter moon (May 18).