Today is the 132nd day of 2014 and the 54th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1780, British forces took Charleston, S.C., during the Revolutionary War.

In 1937, King George VI of the United Kingdom and Elizabeth, the future queen mother, were crowned at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted its blockade of Berlin.

In 2002, Jimmy Carter became the first former or sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Edward Lear (1812-1888), painter/poet; Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), nurse; Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), actress; Yogi Berra (1925- ), baseball player/manager; Burt Bacharach (1928- ), composer; George Carlin (1937-2008), comedian; Gabriel Byrne (1950- ), actor; Ving Rhames (1959- ), actor; Tony Hawk (1968- ), skateboarder; Catherine Tate (1968- ), actress; Malin Akerman (1978- ), actress; Jason Biggs (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, in 1860, but was readmitted in 1868.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008, Cleveland Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard seed germinates and roots itself." -- Florence Nightingale

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 -- American presidents who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama).

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

Today is the 131st day of 2014 and the 53rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.

In 1894, the Pullman Strike began, involving more than 3,000 Chicago railroad car plant workers.

In 1987, the first heart-lung transplant was performed in Baltimore.

In 1997, the IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov with two wins, one loss and three draws in a six-game match.

In 1998, the first euro coins were minted in France.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer; Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972), actress; Martha Graham (1894-1991), dancer/choreographer; Salvador Dali (1904-1989), painter; John Clayton (1954- ), sportswriter; Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), actress; Tim Blake Nelson (1964- ), actor; Cory Monteith (1982-2013), actor; Cam Newton (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The currency unit now known as the euro was originally set to be named the "European currency unit" (ECU, for short). But German-speakers protested that ECU sounded too much like "eh Kuh," which means "a cow" in German.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, a blizzard on Mount Everest led to the deaths of eight people during summit attempts. Journalist Jon Krakauer of Outside magazine published his first-hand recount of the events in the best-seller "Into Thin Air."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." -- Salvador Dali

TODAY'S NUMBER: 150,000 -- members of the American Railway Union who became involved in the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it spread across the United States.

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

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).