Today is the 163rd day of 2012 and the 84th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1770, Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia by accidentally running aground on a shoal.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, confronted by National Guard troops, allowed the University of Alabama to be desegregated.

In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, convicted in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that resulted in the deaths of 168 people, was executed by lethal injection.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Richard Strauss (1864-1949), composer/conductor; Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997), explorer/inventor/writer; Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach; William Styron (1925-2006), author; Gene Wilder (1933- ), actor; Joe Montana (1956- ), football player; Hugh Laurie (1959- ), actor; Diana Taurasi (1982- ), basketball player; Shia LaBeouf (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, Nolan Ryan threw his sixth no-hitter, pitching for the Texas Rangers against the Oakland Athletics.

TODAY'S FACT: Captain James Cook named the Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia, after glass furnaces familiar in his native Yorkshire, England.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up." -- Vince Lombardi

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13 -- percentage of the University of Alabama student population that was African-American in 2011.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (June 11).

Today is the 162nd day of 2012 and the 83rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, Dr. Robert Smith and Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1967, India and Syria agreed to a cease-fire, ending the Six-Day War.

In 2003, NASA launched the Mars exploration rover Spirit from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Prince Philip (1921- ), husband of Queen Elizabeth II; Judy Garland (1922-1969), actress/singer; Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), author/illustrator; John Edwards (1953- ), politician; Eliot Spitzer (1959- ), politician; Jeanne Tripplehorn (1963- ), actress; Elizabeth Hurley (1965- ), model/actress; Bobby Jindal (1971- ), politician; Andy Schleck (1985- ), cyclist.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Affirmed won horse racing's Triple Crown.

TODAY'S FACT: California and Texas have the largest prisoner populations, with around 170,000 prisoners each.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Dentopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it. I've been practicing it for years." -- Prince Philip

TODAY'S NUMBER: 37.5 -- percentage of Americans under 35 who owned their own home in 2011.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (June 4) and last quarter moon (June 11).

Today is the 161st day of 2012 and the 82nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1790, John Barry's "The Philadelphia Spelling Book" became the first copyrighted work in the United States.

In 1954, Army counsel Joseph Welch confronted Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings.

In 1999, Yugoslavia signed a peace treaty pledging that Serbian forces would withdraw from Kosovo in 11 days.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Cole Porter (1891-1964), composer; Robert Cummings (1908-1990), actor; Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009), World Bank head/U.S. secretary of defense; Dick Vitale (1939- ), sportscaster; Michael J. Fox (1961- ), actor; Johnny Depp (1963- ), actor; Natalie Portman (1981- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks won Game 6 of the Stanley Cup series 4-3 over the Philadelphia Flyers, claiming their first NHL championship since 1961.

TODAY'S FACT: Secretariat, who claimed horse racing's Triple Crown on this day in 1973, was one of three non-human athletes included in ESPN's list of the 100 greatest 20th-century athletes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I would rather have a wrong decision made than no decision at all." -- Robert S. McNamara

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5 -- weeks that Robert S. McNamara served as the president of Ford Motor Co. before he was appointed the secretary of defense in 1960. McNamara was the first Ford president to not be related to founder Henry Ford.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (June 4) and last quarter moon (June 11).