Today is the 115th day of 2014 and the 37th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1859, British, French and German engineers began construction on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

In 1901, New York became the first state to begin requiring automobile license plates.

In 1945, U.S. and Soviet troops met at the Elbe River in Germany, signaling the defeat of German defenses.

In 1953, Francis Crick and James D. Watson published an article describing the double helix structure of DNA.

In 2011, a four-day tornado outbreak in the southern United States began, producing 358 confirmed tornadoes and killing more than 300 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), soldier/politician; Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), journalist; Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), singer; Al Pacino (1940- ), actor; Hank Azaria (1964- ), actor; John Henson (1965-2014), puppeteer; Joe Buck (1969- ), sportscaster; Renee Zellweger (1969- ), actress; Jason Lee (1970- ), actor; Tim Duncan (1976- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Edward R. Murrow was born Egbert Roscoe Murrow.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, Chuck Cooper became the first African-American drafted into the NBA when he was selected by the Boston Celtics with the first pick of the second round.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." -- Edward R. Murrow

TODAY'S NUMBER: 26,723 -- nautical miles traveled by the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton during its 60-day, 21-hour submerged circumnavigation of the world, completed on this day in 1960.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 22) and new moon (April 28).

Today is the 114th day of 2014 and the 36th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States.

In 1916, the Irish Republican Brotherhood began the Easter Uprising in Dublin, Ireland, seizing several key locations and proclaiming Irish independence.

In 1980, the United States launched Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful attempt to free American hostages in Iran that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the space shuttle Discovery.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), artist; Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989), novelist/poet; Richard Donner (1930- ), filmmaker; Shirley MacLaine (1934- ), actress; Sue Grafton (1940- ), author; Barbra Streisand (1942- ), singer/actress; Cedric the Entertainer (1964- ), comedian/actor; Djimon Hounsou (1964- ), actor; Aidan Gillen (1968- ), actor; Damon Lindelof (1973- ), TV writer/executive; Kelly Clarkson (1982- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2013, American plastic surgeons performed 15.1 million cosmetic procedures; 1.7 million of these procedures were surgical, while the rest were "minimally invasive."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1901, the first American League game was played. The Chicago White Stockings defeated the Cleveland Blues, 8-2.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The end of man is knowledge ... but he can't know whether he is killed because of the knowledge which he has got or because of the knowledge which he hasn't got and which if he had it, would save him." -- Robert Penn Warren, "All the King's Men"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 15 -- teams in Major League Baseball's modern American League.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 22) and new moon (April 28).

Today is the 113th day of 2014 and the 35th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1635, the first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt created the U.S. Army Reserve.

In 1968, students protesting the Vietnam War at Columbia University in New York City began occupying campus buildings.

In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan received the death penalty for assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. His sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 1972.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James Buchanan (1791-1868), 15th U.S. president; Max Planck (1858-1947), physicist; Shirley Temple Black (1928-2014), actress/diplomat; Roy Orbison (1936-1988), singer-songwriter; Lee Majors (1939- ), actor; Sandra Dee (1942-2005), actress; Tony Atlas (1954- ), bodybuilder; Michael Moore (1954- ), filmmaker; George Lopez (1961- ), comedian/TV personality; John Cena (1977- ), wrestler/actor; John Oliver (1977- ), actor/comedian; Dev Patel (1990- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Shirley Temple Black won the first-ever Academy Juvenile Award in 1935, at age 6. The special Oscar was presented for the final time to 14-year-old Hayley Mills in 1961.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1954, Milwaukee Braves rookie Hank Aaron hit his first major-league home run.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I class myself with Rin Tin Tin. People in the Depression wanted something to cheer them up, and they fell in love with a dog and a little girl." -- Shirley Temple Black

TODAY'S NUMBER: 77 -- days that "New Coke," introduced on this day in 1985, was on the market before Coca-Cola reintroduced the soft drink's original formula, under the name "Classic Coke."

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 22) and new moon (April 28).