Today is the 105th day of 2014 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.

In 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), artist/scientist; Henry James (1843-1916), author; A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), activist; Bessie Smith (1894-1937), blues singer; Elizabeth Montgomery (1933-1995), actress; Michael Kamen (1948-2003), composer; Evelyn Ashford (1957- ), runner; Emma Thompson (1959- ), actress; Arturo Gatti (1972-2009), boxer; 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 took the field with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming Major League Baseball's first African-American player.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." -- 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: Full moon (April 15).

Today is the 104th day of 2014 and the 26th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot and fatally wounded President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

In 1939, John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" was published by Viking Press.

In 1986, the United States launched air strikes against Libya in retaliation for an April 5 bombing in West Berlin that killed two U.S. servicemen.

In 2003, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anne Sullivan Macy (1866-1936), educator; John Gielgud (1904-2000), actor; Rod Steiger (1925-2002), actor; Loretta Lynn (1932- ), singer-songwriter; Julie Christie (1941- ), actress; Pete Rose (1941- ), baseball player; Richard Jeni (1957-2007), comedian; Brad Garrett (1960- ), actor; Greg Maddux (1966- ), baseball player; Adrien Brody (1973- ), actor; Anderson Silva (1975- ), mixed martial artist; Sarah Michelle Gellar (1977- ), actress; Rob McElhenney (1977- ), actor; Abigail Breslin (1996- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The lowest point on Earth is called Challenger Deep, located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, nearly 36,000 feet (about 6.8 miles) below sea level.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2002, Tiger Woods won his second consecutive Masters title.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Muscles aching to work, minds aching to create ... this is man." -- John Steinbeck, "The Grapes of Wrath"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.25 -- weight (in pounds) of the heaviest hailstones ever recorded, which fell in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh on this day in 1986, killing 92.

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

Today is the 103rd day of 2014 and the 25th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a five-year non-aggression pact.

In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win an the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his performance in "Lilies of the Field."

In 1970, an oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, crippling the spacecraft, which was on its way to the moon.

In 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to four bombings between 1996 and 1998, including a blast at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third U.S. president; Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), playwright; Eudora Welty (1909-2001), author; Howard Keel (1919-2004), actor/singer; Seamus Heaney (1939- ), poet/playwright; Paul Sorvino (1939- ), actor; Al Green (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), journalist/author; Ron Perlman (1950- ), actor; Max Weinberg (1951- ), drummer/TV personality; Garry Kasparov (1963- ), chess player; Nellie McKay (1982- ), singer-songwriter/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actress was Halle Berry, for the 2001 film "Monster's Ball."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest player to win the Masters Tournament, at age 21.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett, "Worstward Ho"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 19 -- moves it took the IBM Deep Blue supercomputer to defeat chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

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