Today is the 202nd day of 2014 and the 31st day of summer.
Advertisement
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, the first Battle of Bull Run -- the first major battle of the Civil War -- was fought in Virginia, ending in a Confederate victory.
In 1925, Tennessee teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating the state's law against teaching the theory of evolution.
In 1954, the French surrendered North Vietnam to Communist forces.
In 2011, NASA's Space Shuttle Program came to an end as the shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), author; Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), author/theorist; Isaac Stern (1920-2001), violinist; Don Knotts (1924-2006), actor/comedian; Janet Reno (1938- ), former U.S. attorney general; Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (1948- ), singer/songwriter; Garry Trudeau (1948- ), cartoonist; Robin Williams (1951- ), actor/comedian; Jon Lovitz (1957- ), actor/comedian; Brandi Chastain (1968- ), soccer player; CC Sabathia (1980- ), baseball player; Juno Temple (1989- ), actress.
TODAY'S FACT: The Harry Potter series, the final volume of which was published on this day in 2007, has been translated into 68 languages other than English.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1959, the Boston Red Sox (the last major league team to integrate) fielded their first African-American player when Pumpsie Green entered a game against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." -- Ernest Hemingway
TODAY'S NUMBER: -128.6 -- temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on this day in 1983, the lowest recorded temperature in world history.
TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (July 18) and new moon (July 26).