Today is the 96th day of 2014 and the 18th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1830, Joseph Smith established the Mormon Church in Fayette Township, N.Y.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, 1,500 years after the last recorded original games.

In 1917, the United States formally entered World War I by declaring war on Germany.

In 1947, the first Tony Awards were presented for achievement in live Broadway theater.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lincoln Steffens (1866-1936), journalist; Gil Kane (1926-2000), illustrator; Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996), jazz musician; Merle Haggard (1937- ), singer-songwriter; Billy Dee Williams (1937- ), actor; Barry Levinson (1942- ), director/producer; John Ratzenberger (1947- ), actor; Michael Rooker (1955- ), actor; Paul Rudd (1969- ), actor; Zach Braff (1975- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Florence Green, the last surviving veteran of World War I, died in February 2012 at the age of 110.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, the University of Connecticut became the first university to win the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball championships in the same year.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." -- Mahatma Gandhi, on this day in 1930, during the Salt March to protest British rule in India

TODAY'S NUMBER: 25 -- world records set at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 30) and first quarter moon (April 7).

Today is the 95th day of 2014 and the 17th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1792, George Washington cast the first presidential veto, striking down a bill that concerned representative apportionment among the states.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1955, Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister of Great Britain due to failing health.

In 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia killed 29 miners.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), philosopher; Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), writer/educator; Spencer Tracy (1900-1967), actor; Bette Davis (1908-1989), actress; Gregory Peck (1916-2003), actor; Colin Powell (1937- ), U.S. Army general/diplomat; Mitch Pileggi (1952- ), actor; Pharrell Williams (1973- ), rapper/producer; Hayley Atwell (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: In addition to shelter, clothing, medical care and food, enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps were provided $30 per month in wages, $22-25 of which was required to be sent home to a family dependent.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers scored his 31,420th career point, breaking the NBA's all-time scoring record.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him." -- Booker T. Washington

TODAY'S NUMBER: 635 -- number of vetoes cast by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his multiple terms as U.S. president, from 1933 to 1945.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 30) and first quarter moon (April 7).

Today is the 94th day of 2014 and the 16th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1949, 12 nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pact.

In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tenn.

In 1973, the World trade Center was dedicated in New York City.

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, N.M.

In 2003, U.S. military forces seized Saddam International Airport in Baghdad.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Tris Speaker (1888-1958), baseball player; Robert Sherwood (1896-1955), playwright; Muddy Waters (1913-1983), blues musician; Marguerite Duras (1914-1996), writer; Maya Angelou (1928- ), poet/author; Anthony Perkins (1932-1992), actor; Craig T. Nelson (1944- ), actor; David E. Kelley (1956- ), TV writer/producer; Hugo Weaving (1960- ), actor; Graham Norton (1963- ), TV personality; David Cross (1964- ), actor/comedian; Robert Downey Jr. (1965- ), actor; David Blaine (1973- ), magician; Heath Ledger (1979-2008), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The Beatles remain the only artists in history to simultaneously hold the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a feat the group accomplished on this day in 1964.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1982, Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers finished the season with 212 points. He remains the only player in NHL history to top 200 points in a season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." -- Maya Angelou

TODAY'S NUMBER: 32 -- days in office for William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, who died of pneumonia on this day in 1841. Harrison was the first U.S. president to die in office, and his tenure remains the shortest in U.S. presidential history.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 30) and first quarter moon (April 7).