Today is the 130th day of 2014 and the 52nd day of spring.
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TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, in ceremonies marking the symbolic completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad.
In 1940, Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of Great Britain.
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's first post-apartheid president.
In 2013, the spire of One World Trade Center was completed, making it the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), actor/assassin; Fred Astaire (1899-1987), singer/dancer/actor; David O. Selznick (1902-1965), film producer; Pat Summerall (1930-2013), football player/broadcaster; Donovan (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Bono (1960- ), singer-songwriter; Linda Evangelista, (1965- ), supermodel; Kenan Thompson (1978- ), actor; Odette Annable (1985- ), actress.
TODAY'S FACT: When Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government fell in 1940, King George VI himself summoned Winston Churchill to Buckingham Palace and asked him to form a government.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins scored the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime to give Boston the Stanley Cup title over the St. Louis Blues.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any." -- Fred Astaire
TODAY'S NUMBER: 140,000 -- miles of freight railroad track currently in operation in the United States.
TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 6) and full moon (May 14).