Today is the 180th day of 2014 and the ninth day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the interstate system.

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty as it was then applied in the United States was unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment."

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir station in orbit for the first time.

In 2007, Apple Inc. released the first iPhone.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry Frazee (1881-1929), producer/Red Sox owner; Alan Blumlein (1903-1942), engineer; Leroy Anderson (1908-1975), composer; Slim Pickens (1919-1983), actor; Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011), baseball player; Gary Busey (1944- ), actor; Richard Lewis (1947- ), actor/comedian; Dan Dierdorf (1949- ), football player/sportscaster; Matthew Weiner (1965- ), TV writer/producer; Joe Johnson (1981- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States ranked sixth in the world for the highest number of executions in 2013, behind China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Arizona Diamondback pitcher Randy Johnson became the fourth pitcher in Major League Baseball with 4,000 career strikeouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When you're in love, it's the most glorious two and a half days of your life." -- Richard Lewis

TODAY'S NUMBER: 47,714 -- miles of roads in the U.S. interstate highway system.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 27) and first quarter moon (July 5).

Today is the 179th day of 2014 and the eighth day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, sparking World War I.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I.

In 1950, North Korean troops captured Seoul.

In 1969, police clashed with patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, in an incident said to mark the beginning of the gay civil-rights movement.

In 2004, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), painter; Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), philosopher; Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), violinist; Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), composer; Mel Brooks (1926- ), actor/filmmaker; Kathy Bates (1948- ), actress; John Elway (1960- ), football player/executive; John Cusack (1966- ), actor; Mary Stuart Masterson (1966- ), actress; Mike White (1970- ), filmmaker; Rob Dyrdek (1974- ), skateboarder/actor.

TODAY'S FACT: President Woodrow Wilson was the first of the leaders at Versailles to sign the treaty ending World War I.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, Mike Tyson was disqualified from a heavyweight title fight when the former champion twice bit titleholder Evander Holyfield's ears in the third round.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it means one always has some battle to wage against oneself." -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 -- Academy Award given to Mel Brooks (for the screenplay of "The Producers" in 1968) over his more than half-century-long career.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 27) and first quarter moon (July 5).

Today is the 178th day of 2014 and the seventh day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1829, British chemist James Smithson died, leaving an endowment for "the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

In 1844, Mormon religion founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by an anti-Mormon mob at the jail where they were being held in Carthage, Illinois.

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman sent the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to fight in the Korean War.

In 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decertified Route 66.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Emma Goldman (1869-1940), labor leader; Helen Keller (1880-1968), activist/author; H. Ross Perot (1930- ), businessman/politician; Vera Wang (1949- ), fashion designer; J.J. Abrams (1966- ), TV/film producer; Tobey Maguire (1975- ), actor; Ed Westwick (1987- ), actor; Chandler Riggs (1999- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams flew 39 combat missions during the Korean War. Williams sat out nearly five Major League Baseball seasons due to his military service in World War II and Korea.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2001, the Washington Wizards drafted 19-year-old center Kwame Brown, marking the first time a high school student was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved." -- Helen Keller

TODAY'S NUMBER: 30 million -- visitors to Smithsonian Institution museums in 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (June 27).