Today is the 227th day of 2014 and the 56th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1483, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel was consecrated.

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened.

In 1947, India and Pakistan won independence from Britain.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon canceled the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold.

In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and agreed to pay reparations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French emperor; Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet/novelist; Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959), actress; Edna Ferber (1885-1968), author; Julia Child (1912-2004), TV personality; Steig Larsson (1954-2004), journalist/author; Debra Messing (1968- ), actress; Ben Affleck (1972- ), actor; Carl Edwards (1979- ), race car driver; Jennifer Lawrence (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The price of gold skyrocketed from $35 per ounce in 1971 to $800 per ounce in 1980 as a result of the economic measures undertaken by President Nixon in 1971.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the third women's golf U.S. Open, even after missing a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!" -- Walter Scott, "Marmion"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 400,000 -- estimated number of concert-goers who attended the three-day Woodstock Music Festival when it opened near Bethel, N.Y., on this day in 1969.

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

Today is the 226th day of 2014 and the 55th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, guaranteeing income for retirees and the unemployed.

In 1945, President Harry Truman announced Japan's unconditional surrender and the end to World War II.

In 2003, 50 million people in the northeastern United States and Canada lost power in one of the largest blackouts in U.S. history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Doc Holliday (1851-1887), gambler; David Crosby (1941- ), singer-songwriter; Steve Martin (1945- ), comedian/actor/writer; Danielle Steel (1947- ), novelist; Gary Larson (1950- ), cartoonist; James Horner (1953- ), composer; Rusty Wallace (1956- ), race car driver; Earvin "Magic" Johnson (1959- ), basketball player/businessman; Halle Berry (1966- ), actress; Mila Kunis (1983- ), actress; Tim Tebow (1987- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The New York Times reported in 1945 that an estimated 2 million people flooded New York City's Times Square following the announcement of Japanese surrender in World War II.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected from his 132nd major league game, passing the record previously set by John McGraw. Cox retired in 2010 with 158 regular season and three post-season ejections in his career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent." -- Steve Martin, "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $47 million -- price paid by pop legend Michael Jackson when he purchased the publishing rights to the majority of the Beatles' catalog (251 compositions) on this day in 1985.

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

Today is the 225th day of 2014 and the 54th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1521, Hernando Cortes captured the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan (later Mexico City), after a three-month siege.

In 1907, the first gasoline-powered taxicab took fares in New York City.

In 1918, 18-year-old Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1961, East German soldiers began constructing a barbed-wire barrier between the eastern and western parts of Berlin.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter; Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), film director; Ben Hogan (1912-1997), golfer; Fidel Castro (1926- ), former Cuban president; Don Ho (1930-2007), singer; Philippe Petit (1949- ), tightrope walker; Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007), singer-songwriter; Paul Greengrass (1955- ), film director; John Slattery (1962- ), actor; Valerie Plame (1963- ), CIA agent/author; Shani Davis (1982- ), Olympic speed skater.

TODAY'S FACT: Fidel Castro, a 14-year-old boarding school student in 1940, wrote a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting a $10 bill. The U.S. Embassy in Havana sent a brief thank-you note to Castro in response.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, Yankees legend Mickey Mantle died of liver cancer at age 63. Mantle's Yankees won the World Series seven times during his career, which lasted from 1951-1968.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare." -- Alfred Hitchcock

TODAY'S NUMBER: 305 -- women who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on this day in 1918, the first day women were allowed to enlist (for office, clerical and secretarial duties).

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