Today is the 197th day of 2012 and the 26th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1916, William Boeing incorporated Pacific Aero Products, later named the Boeing Co.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced his intent to visit China in search of a "normalization of relations."

In 2002, U.S. citizen John Walker Lindh pleaded guilty to having fought as a soldier with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), painter; Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), author/poet; St. Francesca Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), founder of charitable religious order; Linda Ronstadt (1946- ), singer/songwriter; Arianna Huffington (1950- ), Internet publisher; Jesse Ventura (1951- ), wrestler/former governor; Terry O'Quinn (1952- ), actor; Forest Whitaker (1961- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team became the first professional sports franchise to record its 10,000th loss.

TODAY'S FACT: Clement Clarke Moore named his most famous poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas," but it is widely known by its first line, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "What we have done is broken the ice. Now we have to test the water to see how deep it is." -- Richard Nixon

TODAY'S NUMBER: 171 -- total length (in miles) of wires found in one Boeing 747-400.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (July 10) and new moon (July 19).

Today is the 196th day of 2012 and the 25th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille in Paris.

In 1951, the George Washington Carver National Monument in Joplin, Mo., was dedicated, becoming the first U.S. national monument to honor an African-American.

In 2004, the U.S. Senate voted 50-48 against a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), painter; Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), painter; Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), musician; Gerald Ford (1913-2006), 38th U.S. president; Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), screenwriter/director; Harry Dean Stanton (1926- ), actor; Jane Lynch (1960- ), actress; Brian Selznick (1966- ), writer/illustrator; Tim Hudson (1975- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 79-61 to win the first WNBA All-Star Game.

TODAY'S FACT: The French revolutionaries were called sans-culottes, or "without breeches," which referred to their preference for wearing long trousers rather than the breeches of the aristocracy.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Let me be known as just the man that told you something you already knew." -- Woody Guthrie

TODAY'S NUMBER: $192.7 million -- total price fetched for four paintings by Gustav Klimt at a Christie's auction in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (July 10) and new moon (July 19).

Today is the 195th day of 2012 and the 24th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, the U.S. Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance, which established governing rules for the Northwest Territory.

In 1863, New York City draft riots began. An estimated 1,000 people were killed or wounded.

In 1977, a 25-hour blackout hit the New York City area, leaving some 9 million people in darkness and resulting in looting and disorder.

In 1985, the Live Aid concerts were broadcast to more than 1 billion people in 110 countries to raise money for African famine relief.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jack Kemp (1935-2009), football player/politician; Patrick Stewart (1940- ), actor; Harrison Ford (1942- ), actor; Cheech Marin (1946- ), actor/comedian; Cameron Crowe (1957- ), screenwriter; Ken Jeong (1969- ), actor/comedian.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1930, France defeated Mexico 4-1 and the United States defeated Belgium 3-0 in the first World Cup soccer matches, held in Montevideo, Uruguay.

TODAY'S FACT: Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison all proposed that Congress pass some form of mandatory military conscription or registration, but none of the proposals succeeded.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Pro football gave me a good sense of perspective to enter politics. I'd already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded and hung in effigy." -- Jack Kemp

TODAY'S NUMBER: 688,621 -- approximate area, in square miles, of the Northwest Territory (later divided into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota).

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (July 10) and new moon (July 19).