Today is the 228th day of 2012 and the 57th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1483, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel was inaugurated.

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened.

In 1947, India and Pakistan won independence from Britain.

In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and agreed to pay reparations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French emperor; Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet/novelist; Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959), actress; Julia Child (1912-2004), TV personality; Debra Messing (1968- ), actress, Ben Affleck (1972- ), actor; Jennifer Lawrence (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the third women's golf U.S. Open, even after missing a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole.

TODAY'S FACT: India and Pakistan went to war in 1947 over the area of Kashmir. The territory continues to be disputed today and is one of the oldest unresolved border conflicts in the world.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous." -- Napoleon Bonaparte

TODAY'S NUMBER: 56,307 -- persons who were employed on the construction of the Panama Canal between 1904 and 1913.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 9) and new moon (Aug. 17).

Today is the 227th day of 2012 and the 56th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, fulfilling a 1932 campaign promise.

In 1945, President Harry Truman announced Japan's unconditional surrender and the end to World War II.

In 2003, 50 million people in the northeastern United States and Canada lost power in one of the largest blackouts in U.S. history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Steve Martin (1945- ), comedian/actor/writer; Danielle Steel (1947- ), novelist; Gary Larson (1950- ), cartoonist; James Horner (1953- ), composer; Earvin "Magic" Johnson (1959- ), basketball player/businessman; Halle Berry (1966- ), actress; Mila Kunis (1983- ), actress; Tim Tebow (1987- ), football player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected from his 132nd major league game, passing the record previously set by John McGraw.

TODAY'S FACT: The New York Times reported in 1945 that an estimated 2 million people flooded New York City's Times Square following the announcement of Japanese surrender in World War II.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." -- Steve Martin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- NBA All-Star game appearances by Magic Johnson.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 9) and new moon (Aug. 17).

Today is the 226th day of 2012 and the 55th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1521, Hernando Cortes captured Tenochtitlan (later Mexico City) after a three-month siege.

In 1907, the first motorized taxicab took fares in New York City.

In 1961, East Germany sealed off the boundary between the eastern and western parts of Berlin with a barbed wire fence.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter; Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), film director; Fidel Castro (1926- ), former Cuban president; Don Ho (1930-2007), singer; Danny Bonaduce (1959- ), actor; Shani Davis (1982- ), Olympic speed skater.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008, American swimmer Michael Phelps won his 10th and 11th career gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

TODAY'S FACT: Fidel Castro, as a schoolboy in 1940, wrote a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting a $10 bill.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." -- Alfred Hitchcock

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13,237 -- medallion taxicabs in New York City in 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 9) and new moon (Aug. 17).