Today is the 116th day of 2014 and the 38th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, was killed by Union troops in Virginia.

In 1937, German planes bombed the city of Guernica in Spain.

In 1986, a reactor ruptured at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Soviet Union, spreading radioactive material over much of Europe.

In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing gay couples to form civil unions.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), artist; Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), landscape architect; Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), philosopher; Charles Richter (1900-1985), seismologist; Bernard Malamud (1914-1986), author; I.M. Pei (1917- ), architect; Carol Burnett (1933- ), actress/comedian; Giancarlo Esposito (1958- ), actor; Jet Li (1963- ), actor; Kevin James (1965- ), actor/comedian; Tom Welling (1977- ), actor; Channing Tatum (1980- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States has 104 operational nuclear reactors, more than any other nation.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1941, the organ, now a staple at Major League Baseball stadiums, made its debut at Wrigley Field, during a game in which the Chicago Cubs lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Without heroes we're all plain people and don't know how far we can go." -- Bernard Malamud

TODAY'S NUMBER: 64,000 -- square miles contaminated by radioactive material from the Chernobyl disaster, an area approximately the size of Wisconsin.

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

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).