Today is the 99th day of 2014 and the 21st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

In 1940, Germany launched Operation Weseruebung, invading Norway and Denmark.

In 1959, NASA announced the selection of the first seven astronauts, whom the media dubbed the "Mercury Seven."

In 2003, Iraqis celebrating the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime destroyed a 20-foot statue of Hussein in Baghdad's Firdaus Square.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), poet; Curly Lambeau (1898-1965), football player/coach; Paul Robeson (1898-1976), athlete/actor/singer; Hugh Hefner (1926- ), publisher; Carl Perkins (1932-1998), singer-songwriter; Peter Gammons (1945- ), sportswriter; Dennis Quaid (1954- ), actor; Joe Scarborough (1963- ), TV personality; Jeffrey Zucker (1965- ), TV executive; Cynthia Nixon (1966- ), actress; Jay Baruchel (1982- ), actor; Leighton Meester (1986- ), actress; Kristen Stewart, (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The "Mercury Seven," selected on this day in 1959, were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2005, light heavyweight mixed martial artist Forrest Griffin was awarded the first "Ultimate Fighter" title after winning a 29-28 decision over Stephan Bonnar on the UFC reality show's season finale.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery." -- Charles Baudelaire

TODAY'S NUMBER: $384 million -- estimated cost of the Mercury program (1959-1963), NASA's first human spaceflight project.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (April 7) and full moon (April 15).

Today is the 98th day of 2014 and the 20th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1904, Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, a series of agreements that formalized peace between the two countries.

In 1935, Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, establishing the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

In 2005, more than 4 million mourners gathered in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

In 2010, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harvey Cushing (1869-1939), surgeon; Mary Pickford (1892-1979), actress; Sonja Henie (1912-1969), ice skater; Betty Ford (1918-2011), former first lady; Shecky Greene (1926- ), comedian; Kofi Annan (1938- ), diplomat; Gary Carter (1954-2012), baseball player/sportscaster; Robin Wright (1966- ), actress; Patricia Arquette (1968- ), actress; Katee Sackhoff (1980- ), actress; Felix Hernandez (1986- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Florida did not formally become part of the United States until Spain surrendered it in a treaty in 1819. It became a state in 1845.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1975, Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians made his debut as Major League Baseball's first African-American manager. Robinson also continued to play for the team, hitting a home run in his first at-bat of the day.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes ... you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down." -- Mary Pickford

TODAY'S NUMBER: 755 -- career home runs for Hank Aaron, second only to Barry Bonds (762) all-time. Aaron hit his 715th career home run on this day in 1974, breaking the record previously held by Babe Ruth.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (April 7) and full moon (April 15).

Today is the 97th day of 2014 and the 19th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1712, slaves in New York City launched a revolt, killing nine white slaveholders.

In 1862, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant defeated Confederate troops in the Battle of Shiloh.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suggested during a press conference that the fall of French Indochina to communism could create a "domino effect" in Southeast Asia.

In 1994, civil war and ethnic genocide began in Rwanda, claiming an estimated 500,000 to one million lives over the next several months.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Wordsworth (1770-1850), poet; Will Keith Kellogg (1860-1951), Kellogg Company founder; Billie Holiday (1915-1959), singer-songwriter; Ravi Shankar (1920-2012), musician; James Garner (1928- ), actor; Francis Ford Coppola (1939- ), filmmaker; David Frost (1939-2013), journalist/TV personality; Stan Winston (1946-2008), special effects artist; Jackie Chan (1954- ), actor; James "Buster" Douglas (1960- ), boxer; Russell Crowe (1964- ), actor; Tiki and Ronde Barber (1975- ), football players.

TODAY'S FACT: Educator Booker T. Washington was the first African-American to be depicted on a U.S. postage stamp, issued on this day in 1940.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1963, at age 23, golfer Jack Nicklaus won the first of his six Masters titles.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Wisdom is oft-times nearer when we stoop than when we soar." -- William Wordsworth, from "The Excursion"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,925 -- performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" during its original Broadway run, which began on this day in 1949.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (April 7).