Today is the 205th day of 2012 and the 34th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser led a military coup that overthrew King Farouk I of Egypt.

In 1967, riots erupted in Detroit. Over the next five days, 43 people died, hundreds were injured and more than 2,000 buildings were burned to the ground.

In 1999, with the launch of Columbia, Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a U.S. shuttle flight.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY: Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Ethiopian emperor; Anthony M. Kennedy (1936- ), Supreme Court justice; Don Imus (1940- ), radio personality; Woody Harrelson (1961- ), actor; Slash (Saul Hudson) (1965- ), musician; Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967- ), actor; Alison Krauss (1971- ), musician/singer; Daniel Radcliffe (1989- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, injured American gymnast Kerri Strug scored a 9.7 on the vault as the U.S. won its first-ever gold medal in the women's team gymnastics competition.

TODAY'S FACT: Comet Hale-Bopp, discovered on this day in 1995, was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, from May 1996 to December 1997. The previous record holder, the Great Comet of 1811, was visible for about nine months.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We must never lose sight of the fact that the law has a moral foundation, and we must never fail to ask ourselves not only what the law is, but what the law should be." -- Anthony M. Kennedy

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 -- Grammy Awards won by bluegrass musician Alison Krauss during her career -- including six awards for a 2007 collaboration with Robert Plant -- more than any other female artist.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 19) and first quarter moon (July 26).

Today is the 204th day of 2012 and the 33rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1587, English colonists founded their second North American settlement at Roanoke Island, near the coast of present-day North Carolina.

In 1934, FBI agents fatally shot notorious bank robber John Dillinger as he left a Chicago movie theater.

In 1994, former pro football star O.J. Simpson, charged in the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, pleaded not guilty.

In 2004, the 9/11 Commission issued its final report, stating that the U.S. government had not been fully prepared for a terrorist attack.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), poet; Edward Hopper (1882-1967), artist; Bob Dole (1923- ), politician; Oscar de la Renta (1932- ), fashion designer; Alex Trebek (1940- ), TV personality; George Clinton (1941- ), musician; Danny Glover (1946- ), actor; Don Henley (1947- ), musician; Willem Dafoe (1955- ), actor; Rufus Wainwright (1973- ), singer/songwriter; Selena Gomez (1992- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1976, Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored a perfect 10 in the uneven parallel bars, becoming the first gymnast to ever achieve a perfect score in Olympic competition.

TODAY'S FACT: The fates of the Roanoke colony and Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas in 1587, remain undetermined.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you're hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come over to the Senate. You'll get the same kind of feeling and you won't have to pay." -- Bob Dole

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5 -- medals Nadia Comaneci won in the 1976 Olympics at Montreal: three gold, one silver and one bronze.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 19) and first quarter moon (July 26).

Today is the 203rd day of 2012 and the 32nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, the first Battle of Bull Run -- the first major battle of the Civil War -- was fought, ending in Confederate victory.

In 1925, Tennessee teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating the state's law against teaching the theory of evolution.

In 1954, the French surrendered North Vietnam to Communist forces there.

In 2007, the final volume in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series was released.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), author; Isaac Stern (1920-2001), violinist; Don Knotts (1924-2006), actor/comedian; Janet Reno (1938- ), former U.S. attorney general; Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (1948- ), singer/songwriter; Garry Trudeau (1948- ), Doonesbury cartoonist; Robin Williams (1951- ), actor; Jon Lovitz (1957- ), actor; CC Sabathia (1980- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1959, the Boston Red Sox (the last major league team to integrate) fielded their first African-American player when Pumpsie Green entered a game against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning.

TODAY'S FACT: The Harry Potter series has been translated into 68 languages other than English.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "All good books have one thing in common -- they are truer than if they had really happened." -- Ernest Hemingway

TODAY'S NUMBER: $100 -- amount John Scopes was ordered to pay upon his conviction. Though the conviction was overturned on appeal, the Butler Act -- which had made the teaching of evolution criminal -- stayed on Tennessee's law books until 1967.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 19) and first quarter moon (July 26).