Today is the 193rd day of 2014 and the 22nd day of summer.
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TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure creating the U.S. Army Medal of Honor.
In 1871, rioting between Irish Catholics and Protestants in New York City left more than 50 dead.
In 1984, Democratic Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York became the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket.
In 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas raided northern Israel, marking the beginning of a 33-day conflict.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), author/philosopher; Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), architect; Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), lyricist; Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), poet; Milton Berle (1908-2002), comedian; Bill Cosby (1937- ), comedian/actor; Richard Simmons (1948- ), fitness trainer; Julio Cesar Chavez (1962- ), boxer; Brock Lesnar (1977- ), wrestler/mixed martial artist; Topher Grace (1978- ), actor; Michelle Rodriguez (1978- ), actress.
TODAY'S FACT: Mary Edwards Walker, who served as a surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War, is the only female recipient of the U.S. Army Medal of Honor.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, rioting during the Chicago White Sox's "Disco Demolition Night" promotion, in which an explosive-rigged dumpster filled with disco records was destroyed between games of a planned doubleheader, led to 39 arrests and caused the team to forfeit the second game against the Detroit Tigers.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -- Henry David Thoreau
TODAY'S NUMBER: 270 -- stacked height (in feet) of Buckminster Fuller's "Dymaxion Chronofile," a systematic record of personal notes and ephemera that he kept from 1920 until his death.
TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (July 12).