Today is the 221st day of 2014 and the 50th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed by the United States and Canada, delineating the eastern section of their shared border.

In 1945, the United States dropped the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

In 1969, followers of Charles Manson murdered actress Sharon Tate and four others at Tate's Los Angeles home.

In 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th U.S. president following Richard Nixon's resignation.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Dryden (1631-1700), poet/dramatist/critic; Rod Laver (1938- ), tennis player; Jonathan Kellerman (1949- ), writer; Whitney Houston (1963-2012), singer; Brett Hull (1964- ), hockey player; Hoda Kotb (1964- ), news anchor; Deion Sanders (1967- ), football and baseball player/sportscaster; Eric Bana (1968- ), actor; Chamique Holdsclaw (1977- ), basketball player; Anna Kendrick (1985- ), actress; Jason Heyward (1989- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson persuaded the Target Committee to take Kyoto, Japan, off the short list of possible nuclear targets during World War II because of its cultural and religious significance to the people of Japan.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, 27-year-old Wayne Gretzky, already considered among the greatest players in the history of hockey, was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Great wits are to madness near allied

/ And thin partitions do their bounds divide." -- John Dryden, "Absalom and Achitophel"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 -- gold medals claimed by Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics. He won the fourth in the 4x100-meter relay on this day in 1936, becoming the first American to win four track-and-field gold medals in one Olympiad.

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

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).