Today is the 242nd day of 2014 and the 71st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, British forces ended Japan's occupation of Hong Kong.

In 1963, a United States-Soviet diplomatic teletype "hotline," intended to prevent accidental war, was installed.

In 1967, the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American Supreme Court justice.

In 1996, Russian and Chechen leaders agreed to a ceasefire, ending the First Chechen war.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), author; Huey Long (1893-1935), politician; Shirley Booth (1898-1992), actress; Roy Wilkins (1901-1981), civil rights activist; Fred MacMurray (1908-1991), actor; Ted Williams (1918-2002), baseball player; Warren Buffett (1930- ), businessman/philanthropist; Robert Crumb (1943- ), writer/illustrator; Lewis Black (1948- ), comedian; Michael Chiklis (1963- ), actor; Mark Strong (1963- ), actor; Cameron Diaz (1972- ), actress; Andy Roddick (1982- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S FACT: The number of hours Americans spent online increased nearly 100 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 9.4 hours per week to 18.3 hours per week.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1905, Ty Cobb made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful." -- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 32 -- cases Thurgood Marshall had argued before the Supreme Court before he became a justice. He won 29 of them.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 25) and first quarter moon (Sept. 2).

Today is the 241st day of 2014 and the 70th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first atomic bomb test.

In 1957, Democratic Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina concluded his 24-hour-long filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

In 1991, the parliament of the Soviet Union suspended all Communist Party activities indefinitely.

In 2005, Category 3 storm Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Locke (1632-1704), philosopher; Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894), author; Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982), actress; Charlie Parker (1920-1955), musician; Richard Attenborough (1923-2014), filmmaker; William Friedkin (1935- ), film director; John McCain (1936- ), U.S. senator; Elliott Gould (1938- ), actor; Joel Schumacher (1939- ), film director; GG Allin (1956-1993), singer-songwriter; Michael Jackson (1958-2009), singer-songwriter; Roy Oswalt (1977- ), baseball player; Lea Michele (1986- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Strom Thurmond's 1957 civil rights filibuster remains the longest one-man filibuster in history. It lasted 24 hours, 18 minutes and opened with Thurmond reading the voting laws of all 48 states.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1977, St. Louis Cardinal Lou Brock stole two bases to match, then break, Ty Cobb's record for career stolen bases, which had stood at 892 bases for 49 years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 175 -- top sustained wind speed (in mph) during Hurricane Katrina.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 25) and first quarter moon (Sept. 2).

Today is the 240th day of 2014 and the 69th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1867, the United States took possession of Midway Atoll.

In 1955, 14-year-old African-American Emmett Till was murdered for flirting with a white woman in Money, Mississippi.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. made his "I have a dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom event in Washington, D.C.

In 1968, protestors fought with police at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In 1996, Prince Charles and Princess Diana formally divorced.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), author; Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990), psychologist; Jack Kirby (1917-1994), writer/illustrator; Donald O'Connor (1925-2003), actor/performer; Ben Gazzara (1930-2012), actor; Lou Piniella (1943- ), baseball player/manager; Luis Guzman (1956- ), actor; David Fincher (1962- ), film director; Shania Twain (1965- ), singer-songwriter; Jack Black (1969- ), actor; LeAnn Rimes (1982- ), singer-songwriter; Armie Hammer (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The first issue of Scientific American was published on this day in 1845.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1977, Brazilian soccer superstar Pele played in his last competitive game, leading his New York Cosmos team to a win over the Seattle Sounders 2-1 for the National American Soccer League championship.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

TODAY'S NUMBER: $6.1 billion -- combined worldwide box office gross (as of mid-August 2014) of films featuring Marvel Comics characters created or co-created by comic book writer/artist Jack Kirby, including the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and X-Men film franchises.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 25) and first quarter moon (Sept. 2).