Today is the 223rd day of 2014 and the 52nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1934, the first federal prisoners were incarcerated at the Alcatraz Island prison in San Francisco Bay.

In 1965, rioting began in the Watts district of Los Angeles.

In 1972, the last U.S. ground combat unit left South Vietnam.

In 2003, NATO took over command of peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: David Atchison (1807-1886), legislator; Enid Blyton (1897-1968), children's author; Alex Haley (1921-1992), historian/author; Arlene Dahl (1925- ), actress; Steve Wozniak (1950- ), Apple co-founder; Hulk Hogan (1953- ), wrestler/actor; David Brooks (1961- ), journalist; Viola Davis (1965- ), actress; Joe Rogan (1967- ), actor/comedian; Anna Gunn (1968- ), actress; Chris Kelly (1978-2013), rapper; Chris Hemsworth (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The Mall of America, which opened in Bloomfield, Minnesota, on this day in 1992, cost $650 million to build and generates more than $50 million in taxes for the state each year.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Carl Lewis replicated Jesse Owens's 1936 performance at the Summer Olympics by winning his fourth and final gold medal, all in the same track events Owens had won nearly 50 years earlier.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you." -- Alex Haley

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,545 -- federal prisoners interned at Alcatraz during its 28-year use as a prison.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 10) and last quarter moon (Aug. 17).

Today is the 222nd day of 2014 and the 51st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1821, Missouri was admitted as the 24th U.S. state.

In 1846, Congress officially chartered the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1949, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, which established a consolidated Department of Defense.

In 1977, postal employee David Berkowitz of Yonkers, N.Y., was arrested for the "Son of Sam" killings that left six dead.

In 2006, British authorities arrested 24 people suspected of plotting attacks on airplanes with liquid bombs smuggled in shampoo and water bottles.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31st U.S. president; Charles Darrow (1889-1967), Monopoly game inventor; Jack Haley (1898-1979), actor; Jimmy Dean (1928-2010), singer/actor/entrepreneur; Eddie Fisher (1928-2010), singer; Rosanna Arquette (1959- ), actress; Antonio Banderas (1960- ), actor; Suzanne Collins (1962- ), author; Gus Johnson (1967- ), sportscaster; Angie Harmon (1972- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The Smithsonian Institution estimates that about 95 percent of its collection is in storage rather than on display.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1981, Pete Rose got the 3,631st hit of his career, breaking the National League record for career hits held by Stan Musial.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "No great question will ever be settled in dollars and cents. Great questions must be settled on moral grounds and the tests of what makes free men." -- Herbert Hoover

TODAY'S NUMBER: $585.9 billion -- estimated Department of Defense budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Aug. 10).

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).