Today is the 130th day of 2014 and the 52nd day of spring.

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).

Today is the 129th day of 2014 and the 51st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first presidential proclamation calling for a national Mother's Day holiday.

In 1961, Newton Minow, newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, gave a speech to broadcasters in which he described network TV programming as a "vast wasteland."

In 1974, the U.S. House of Representatives opened impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Brown (1800-1859), abolitionist; J.M. Barrie (1860-1937), author/playwright; Howard Carter (1874-1939), archaeologist; Mike Wallace (1918-2012), journalist; James L. Brooks (1940- ), director/producer; Candice Bergen (1946- ), actress; Billy Joel (1949- ), singer-songwriter/pianist; Tony Gwynn (1960- ), baseball player; Rosario Dawson (1979- ), actress; Prince Fielder (1984- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The top-rated TV show in the United States in 1961 was the long-running Western series "Gunsmoke."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, the White Sox finally defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in a 25-inning game that had been suspended from the day before. It was the longest timed game in Major League Baseball history to date, at 8 hours and 6 minutes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it." -- J.M. Barrie, "Peter Pan"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 -- current member nations in the European Union. Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are candidates for membership.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 6) and full moon (May 14).

Today is the 128th day of 2014 and the 50th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1886, pharmacist John Pemberton sold the first Coca-Cola soft drink.

In 1945, Victory in Europe Day (or V-E Day) was celebrated as the Allies accepted Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe.

In 1973, a 10-week standoff in Wounded Knee, S.D., between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists ended.

In 1984, the Soviet Union announced that it would boycott that year's Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd U.S. president; Don Rickles (1926- ), comedian/actor; Thomas Pynchon (1937- ), author; Ricky Nelson (1940-1985), singer-songwriter; Toni Tennille (1940- ), singer-songwriter; Mike D'Antoni (1951- ), basketball coach; Bill Cowher (1957- ), football coach/analyst; Lovie Smith (1958- ), football coach; Enrique Iglesias (1975- ), singer-songwriter; Adrian Gonzalez (1982- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1999, Nancy Mace became the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina.

TODAY'S SPORTS: The United States won 174 medals, including a record 83 gold medals, at the Soviet-boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers." -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1.9 billion -- average number of servings of Coca-Cola sold daily in 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 6) and full moon (May 14).