UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 107th day of 2013 and the 29th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.

In 1961, a group of CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

In 1970, the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1993, a federal jury acquitted two police officers (and convicted two others) of violating the civil rights of assaulted motorist Rodney King.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Senor Wences (1896-1999), ventriloquist; Thornton Wilder, (1897-1975), playwright/novelist; William Holden (1918-1981), actor; Nick Hornby (1957- ), writer; Boomer Esiason (1961- ), football player/broadcaster; Henry Ian Cusick (1967- ), actor; Jennifer Garner (1972- ), actress; Rooney Mara (1985- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: More Civil War battles were fought in Virginia than any other state.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1951, 19-year-old Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." -- Thornton Wilder

TODAY'S NUMBER: 15 -- Cuban players listed on Major League Baseball rosters on opening day in 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 10) and first quarter moon (April 18).

UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 106th day of 2013 and the 28th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia in a sealed train after years in exile.

In 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman discovered the hallucinogenic effects of LSD.

In 1947, a fertilizer explosion during the loading of the freighter Grandcamp at a pier in Texas City, Texas, left more than 500 dead.

In 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. penned his famous "Letter from Birmingham City Jail."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anatole France (1844-1924), writer; Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), actor/director; Peter Ustinov (1921-2004), actor; Pope Benedict XVI (1927- ), Roman Catholic leader; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947- ), basketball player; Bill Belichick (1952- ), football coach; Ellen Barkin (1954- ), actress; Martin Lawrence (1965- ), actor; Peter Billingsley (1971- ), actor; Lukas Haas (1976- ), actor; Jonathan Vilma (1982- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: Charlie Chaplin did not use dialogue in his movies until making "The Great Dictator" in 1940, 13 years after the first "talkie" appeared in theaters.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, Michael Jordan of the Washington Wizards played the final NBA game of his career, a season-ending 107-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." -- Anatole France

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards won by Michael Jordan, an NBA record.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 10) and first quarter moon (April 18).

UNIVERSAL UCLICK ALMANAC

Today is the 105th day of 2013 and the 27th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, the R.M.S. Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.

In 1924, Rand McNally published its first road atlas.

In 1959, the new Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, arrived in Washington, D.C., for an 11-day tour of the United States.

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States for the first time since becoming the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), artist/scientist; Henry James (1843-1916), novelist; A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), activist; Bessie Smith (1894-1937), blues singer; Michael Kamen (1948-2003), composer; Emma Thompson (1959- ), actress; Seth Rogen (1982- ), actor; Emma Watson (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: After hitting the iceberg, the R.M.S. Titanic stayed partially afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes before sinking completely beneath the surface.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American major league baseball player when he took the field with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " Money's a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet." -- Henry James

TODAY'S NUMBER: 24 -- hours after Germany's 1939 invasion of Poland that U.S. stores were completely sold out of Rand McNally maps of Europe.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 10) and first quarter moon (April 18).