Today is the 134th day of 2014 and the 56th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1607, the Virginia Company of London established a colony at Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St. Louis and set out on their historic expedition to explore the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed during a ceremony in Tel Aviv.

In 1973, Skylab, the first American space station, was launched into orbit.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Otto Klemperer (1885-1973), conductor/composer; Bobby Darin (1936-1973), singer-songwriter/actor; George Lucas (1944- ), filmmaker; Robert Zemeckis (1951- ), filmmaker; David Byrne (1952- ), singer-songwriter/musician; Tim Roth (1961- ), actor; Cate Blanchett (1969- ), actress; Sofia Coppola (1971- ), filmmaker; Roy Halladay (1977- ), baseball player; Amber Tamblyn (1983- ), actress; Mark Zuckerberg (1984- ), programmer/entrepreneur; Clay Matthews III (1986- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States paid a total of $15 million for the entire Louisiana Purchase -- a little more than $18 per square mile.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1913, Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson ended his scoreless pitching streak at 55 and 2/3 innings, setting a record that stood for 55 years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence." -- David Byrne

TODAY'S NUMBER: 108 -- Virginia Company members who set out from London to establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what would become the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (May 14).

Today is the 133rd day of 2014 and the 55th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his "blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech to the British House of Commons as Germany's conquest of France began.

In 1943, the German Afrika Korps surrendered to Allied forces in North Africa.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and critically injured by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

In 1985, two blocks of Philadelphia were destroyed by fire after police dropped an incendiary device on the headquarters of MOVE, a black liberation group.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pope Pius IX (1792-1878); Joe Louis (1914-1981), boxer; Bea Arthur (1922-2009), actress; Harvey Keitel (1939- ), actor; Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), singer-songwriter; Stevie Wonder (1950- ), singer-songwriter/pianist; Stephen Colbert (1964- ), TV personality; Darius Rucker (1966- ), singer-songwriter; Barry Zito (1978- ), baseball player; Lena Dunham (1986- ), actress; Robert Pattinson (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Two women were also wounded in the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II on this date in 1981.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, Alison Hargreaves of Great Britain became the first woman to scale Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. 'Yes' is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes." -- Stephen Colbert

TODAY'S NUMBER: 142,500 -- total salary (in pounds) of the British prime minister in 2013 (around $240,000). The salary of the president of the United States was $400,000 in 2013.

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

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).