Today is the 232nd day of 2012 and the 61st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1839, details of Louis Daguerre's pioneering photographic process were first released in Paris.

In 1934, a German plebiscite approved giving then-Chancellor Adolf Hitler the additional office of president.

In 2010, the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Coco Chanel (1883-1971), fashion designer; Ogden Nash (1902-1971), writer; Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), publisher; Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), Star Trek creator; Bill Shoemaker (1931-2003), jockey; Bill Clinton (1946- ), 42nd U.S. president; John Stamos (1963- ), actor; Kyra Sedgwick (1965- ), actress; Clay Walker (1969- ), singer.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1909, Louis Schwitzer won the first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but two drivers and several bystanders died in related accidents.

TODAY'S FACT: President Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III, after his biological father, who died a few months before Clinton was born. The future president legally changed his surname to Clinton (his stepfather's surname) as a teenager.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I do not like to get the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons." -- Ogden Nash

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11 -- Triple Crown horse races won by thoroughbred jockey Bill Shoemaker. He never won all three jewels in the Triple Crown in the same year.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 17) and first quarter moon (Aug. 24).

Today is the 231st day of 2012 and the 60th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. constitution was ratified, extending the right to vote to women.

In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel "Lolita" was published in the United States.

In 1964, in response to its policy of apartheid, South Africa was banned from participating in the Olympic Games.

In 2008, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf resigned under threat of impeachment.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809), explorer; Shelley Winters (1922-2006), actress; Rosalynn Carter (1927- ), first lady; Roberto Clemente (1934-1972), baseball player; Roman Polanski (1933- ), filmmaker; Robert Redford (1936- ), actor/director; Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), actor; Edward Norton (1969- ), actor/director; Christian Slater (1969- ), actor; Andy Samberg (1978- ), actor/comedian.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, Larry Bird announced his retirement from the NBA after 13 seasons.

TODAY'S FACT: A greater percentage of women than men now vote in most U.S. elections: in 2008, 55.7 percent of men reported voting, compared to 60.4 percent of women.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

TODAY'S NUMBER: 300,000 -- copies of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" that were sold in the first three weeks after its U.S. publication.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 17) and first quarter moon (Aug. 24).

Today is the 230th day of 2012 and the 59th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1863, Union forces began shelling Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

In 1896, prospectors discovered gold in Alaska, sparking the Klondike gold rush.

In 1945, Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands.

In 1988, Pakistani President Muhammad Zia died in an airplane crash.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Davy Crockett (1786-1836), frontiersman/soldier; Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), Black Nationalist leader; Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974), film producer; Mae West (1893-1980), actress; Maureen O'Hara (1920- ), actress; Robert De Niro (1943- ), actor; Sean Penn (1960- ), actor/director; Jorge Posada (1971- ), baseball player; Dustin Pedroia (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008, swimmer Michael Phelps won his historic eighth gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

TODAY'S FCAT: Only about 161,000 metric tons of gold have been mined in all of human history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17,508 -- islands counted within the territory of Indonesia.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Aug. 17).