Today is the 109th day of 2014 and the 31st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1775, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought at Lexington and Concord, Mass.

In 1943, an uprising began in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland.

In 1993, a fire broke out at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, killing 76 people and ending a 51-day siege by federal and state authorities.

In 1995, a truck bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168.

In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope; he selected the pontifical name Benedict XVI.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eliot Ness (1903-1957), law enforcement agent; Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967), actress; Dudley Moore (1935-2002), actor; Tim Curry (1946- ), actor; Al Unser Jr. (1962- ), race car driver; Ashley Judd (1968- ), actress; James Franco (1978- ), actor; Kate Hudson (1979- ), actress; Troy Polamalu (1981- ), football player; Joe Mauer (1983- ), baseball player; Maria Sharapova (1987- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S FACT: More than 14 percent of the world's population speaks Mandarin Chinese as a first language. Five percent of the world's population speaks English as a first language.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1897, New Yorker John J. McDermott won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I will only be the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church until 8 p.m. and then no longer. I will simply be a pilgrim who is starting the last phase of his pilgrimage on this earth." -- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, during his last public appearance as pope on Feb. 28, 2013

TODAY'S NUMBER: 175 -- days in orbit for Salyut 1, the first space station, launched by the Soviet Union on this day in 1971.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 15) and last quarter moon (April 22).

Today is the 108th day of 2014 and the 30th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride, warning, "The British are coming!"

In 1906, the Great San Francisco Earthquake struck, killing an estimated 3,000 people and destroying 80 percent of the city.

In 1942, Lt. Col. James Doolittle led a squadron of U.S. planes in the bombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

In 1983, a suicide bombing at a United States embassy left 63 dead in Beirut, Lebanon.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franz von Suppe (1819-1895), composer; Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), lawyer; Wendy Barrie (1912-1978), actress; Hayley Mills (1946- ), actress; James Woods (1947- ), actor; Jeff Dunham (1962- ), ventriloquist/comedian; Conan O'Brien (1963- ), TV personality; Maria Bello (1967- ), actress; David Tennant (1971- ), actor; Eli Roth (1972- ), filmmaker; Miguel Cabrera (1983- ), baseball player; America Ferrera (1984- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Paul Revere was detained by British soldiers before he could complete his "midnight ride" from Boston to Concord, Mass.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1923, Yankee Stadium, the "House That Ruth Built," opened to baseball fans in the Bronx, N.Y.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have never killed anyone, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction." -- Clarence Darrow

TODAY'S NUMBER: $400 million -- estimated property damage (in 1906 dollars) caused by the Great San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent fires.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 15) and last quarter moon (April 22).

Today is the 107th day of 2014 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 1964, the Ford Mustang debuted at the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

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

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: J.P. Morgan (1837-1913), financier/banker; Senor Wences (1896-1999), ventriloquist; Thornton Wilder, (1897-1975), playwright/novelist; William Holden (1918-1981), actor; Nick Hornby (1957- ), author/screenwriter; Boomer Esiason (1961- ), football player/sportscaster; Henry Ian Cusick (1967- ), actor; Redman (1970- ), rapper/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: "The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude." -- Thornton Wilder

TODAY'S NUMBER: 11,747 -- immigrants processed at the Ellis Island immigration center on this day in 1907, the most ever in a single day.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 15) and last quarter moon (April 22).