Today is the 187th day of 2012 and the 16th day of summer.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, the U.S. Secret Service was formed under the Treasury Department.
In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act was passed, guaranteeing workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.
In 1971, the 26th Amendment, reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, was formally certified.
In 1996, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, was born.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891), circus founder; Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), British colonial financier/politician; John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), economist; Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), writer; Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1902-1985), diplomat; Chuck Close (1940- ), artist; Bill Watterson (1958- ), cartoonist; Edie Falco (1963- ), actress.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black tennis player to win the Wimbledon men's singles title.
TODAY'S FACT: In the 1972 presidential election, which was the first in which 18-to-20-year-olds could cast a vote, the voter participation rate was 55.2 percent, down from 60.9 percent in 1968.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The fact that the talk may be boring or turgid or uninspiring should not cause us to forget the fact that it is preferable to war." -- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
TODAY'S NUMBER: 10 -- years of Secret Service protection that presidents elected after 1997 receive after leaving office. Presidents elected prior to 1997 receive lifetime Secret Service protection.
TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (July 3) and last quarter moon (July 10).