Today is the 235th day of 2014 and the 64th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1305, Scottish leader William Wallace was executed in London.

In 1939, Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin signed a nonaggression pact.

In 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began as Nazi and Soviet troops fought for control of the city.

In 1966, the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft transmitted the first photo of Earth from orbit around the moon.

In 1999, the first cases of West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere were reported in New York City.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), poet; Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950), author; Ernie Bushmiller (1905-1982), cartoonist; Gene Kelly (1912-1996), actor/dancer; Vera Miles (1929- ), actress; Barbara Eden (1934- ), actress; Shelley Long (1949- ), actress; Rick Springfield (1949- ), singer/musician; Jay Mohr (1970- ), actor/comedian; River Phoenix (1970-1993), actor; Ray Park (1974- ), actor/stuntman; Kobe Bryant (1978- ), basketball player; Jeremy Lin (1988- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2000, the first "Survivor" season finale aired. Corporate trainer Richard Hatch won the $1 million prize.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, Taiwan won its first Little League World Series. The nation went on to win nine more titles in the next 12 years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The Earth keeps some vibration going/ There in your heart, and that is you./ And if the people find you can fiddle,/ Why, fiddle you must, for all your life." -- Edgar Lee Masters, "Fiddler Jones"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 22 -- listings with the surname Hitler in the New York City phone book prior to World War II. None were listed there when the war ended.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 17) and new moon (Aug. 25).

Today is the 234th day of 2014 and the 63rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1851, the American yacht America won the first America's Cup.

In 1864, the first Geneva Convention, which established protections for those wounded in active warfare, was signed by 12 European nations.

In 1902, the Cadillac Automobile Co. was founded.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act welfare reform into law.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Claude Debussy (1862-1918), composer; George Herriman (1880-1944), cartoonist; Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), author; Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), film director/actress; Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), author; Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012), general; Valerie Harper (1939- ), actress; Bill Parcells (1941- ), football coach; David Chase (1945- ), screenwriter/producer; Tori Amos (1963- ), singer-songwriter; Layne Staley (1967-2002), singer-songwriter; Kristen Wiig (1973- ), actress/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: The Comics Journal named George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" the best American comic strip of the 20th century in 1999.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A's, becoming the first major league pitcher to reach 5,000 strikeouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.'" -- Ray Bradbury, "Fahrenheit 451"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 196 -- states that have acceded to the Geneva Conventions.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 17) and new moon (Aug. 25).

Today is the 233rd day of 2014 and the 62nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held the first of their seven debates.

In 1863, pro-Confederate guerillas led by William Quantrill raided the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing more than 150 men and boys.

In 1911, an employee stole the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre in Paris. It was recovered two years later.

In 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

In 1991, a coup by Communist hard-liners in the Soviet Union collapsed on the third day.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William "Count" Basie (1904-1984), musician; Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999), basketball player; Kenny Rogers (1938- ), singer-songwriter; Peter Weir (1944- ), film director; Joe Strummer (1952-2002), musician; Kim Cattrall (1956- ), actress; Carrie-Anne Moss (1967- ), actress; Sergey Brin (1973- ), Google co-founder; Kelis (1979- ), singer; Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (1981- ), entrepreneurs; Usain Bolt (1986- ), Olympic sprinter; Hayden Panettiere (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Pew Research Center projects that the population of Russia will shrink considerably in the coming decades, from about 142.5 million in 2014 to 129.9 million in 2050.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1903, Tom Fetch and M.C. Krarup set a record for America's fastest transcontinental automobile trip, completing the journey from San Francisco to New York City in 61 days.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune." -- William "Count" Basie

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 million -- people who view Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" at the Louvre in Paris annually.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 17) and new moon (Aug. 25).