Today is the 220th day of 2014 and the 49th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the United Nations charter, making the United States the first nation to join the organization.

In 1963, 15 thieves stole close to 2.6 million pounds from a mail train in Britain's "Great Train Robbery."

In 1974, President Richard Nixon announced on national television that he would resign the presidency at noon the following day.

In 1990, Iraq announced its "unification" with Kuwait, days after its military forces invaded and took over the country.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Marjorie Rawlings (1896-1953), novelist/Pulitzer winner; Benny Carter (1907-2003), jazz musician; Esther Williams (1921-2013), actress; Mel Tillis (1932- ), singer-songwriter; Dustin Hoffman (1937- ), actor; Keith Carradine (1949- ), actor; Deborah Norville (1958- ), journalist; The Edge (1961- ), guitarist; Roger Federer (1981- ), tennis player; Meagan Good (1981- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The United Nations has 193 member states. Only three countries in the world (Kosovo, Taiwan and Vatican City/The Holy See) are not members.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, the Chicago Cubs hosted the first-ever night game under the newly installed lights at Wrigley Field. Rain caused the game to be called in the fourth inning with the Cubs leading the Mets 3-1.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to." -- Marjorie Rawlings

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,121 -- height (in feet) of the Warsaw radio mast in Poland, which held the title of the world's tallest structure until it collapsed on this day in 1991.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Aug. 3) and full moon (Aug. 10).

Today is the 219th day of 2014 and the 48th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established.

In 1942, the U.S. 1st Marines Division landed on the island of Guadalcanal, marking the first major American offensive of World War II.

In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in response to reported Vietnamese attacks.

In 1998, U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya were bombed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ralph Bunche (1904-1971), activist/Nobel laureate; Tobin Bell (1942- ), actor; Garrison Keillor (1942- ), writer/entertainer; Wayne Knight (1955- ), actor; David Duchovny (1960- ), actor; Harold Perrineau (1963- ), actor; Jimmy Wales (1966- ), Wikipedia co-founder; Michael Shannon (1974- ), actor; Charlize Theron (1975- ), actress; Sidney Crosby (1987- ), hockey player; Mike Trout (1991- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1947, Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of five crashed into a reef at Raroia, near Tahiti, aboard their balsa wood raft, Kon-Tiki. The 4,300-mile, 101-day voyage from Peru was undertaken to prove that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian Islands.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 756th career home run, surpassing the record set by Hank Aaron.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known." -- Garrison Keillor, "Lake Wobegon, U.S.A."

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,368 -- height (in feet) of the wire suspended between the World Trade Center towers and walked by French high-wire artist Philippe Petit on this day in 1974. Petit walked back and forth, sat and even danced on the 200-foot-long wire for 45 minutes before surrendering to police.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Aug. 3) and full moon (Aug. 10).

Today is the 218th day of 2014 and the 47th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1787, the "Great Debate" over the future of the U.S. Constitution began at the Constitutional Convention.

In 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed some voting qualifications thought to disenfranchise black voters.

In 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), poet; Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), biologist/pharmacologist; Lucille Ball (1911-1989), actress/comedian; Robert Mitchum (1917-1997), actor; Andy Warhol (1928-1987), artist/filmmaker; Michelle Yeoh (1962- ), actress; David Robinson (1965- ), basketball player; Mike Greenberg (1967- ), sportscaster; M. Night Shyamalan (1970- ), filmmaker; Vera Farmiga (1973- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1991, CERN computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee published the first website and Web page, which offered information about the World Wide Web project.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1963, Philadelphia's NBA team changed its name from the Nationals to the 76ers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds." -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,862 -- ring count of Prometheus, a bristlecone pine tree cut down for research purposes on this day in 1964 by U.S. Forest Service personnel in eastern Nevada. Scientists believe the tree may have been more than 5,000 years old, making it the oldest non-clonal organism ever discovered.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Aug. 3) and full moon (Aug. 10).