Today is the 248th day of 2014 and the 77th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.

In 1957, Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," a defining novel of the postwar generation, was published by Viking Press.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford survived an attempt on his life when Secret Service agents tackled would-be assassin Lynette Fromme.

In 1986, Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jack Daniel (1846-1911), distiller; Jesse James (1847-1882), legendary outlaw; Arthur Nielsen (1897-1980), market researcher; Darryl Zanuck (1902-1979), film producer; John Cage (1912-1992), composer; Bob Newhart (1929- ), comedian/actor; Raquel Welch (1940- ), actress/model; Werner Herzog (1942- ), filmmaker; Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), singer-songwriter; Cathy Guisewite (1950- ), cartoonist; Michael Keaton (1951- ), actor; Rose McGowan (1973-), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Jack Kerouac typed the manuscript of "On the Road" on a 120-foot-long scroll of paper.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, boxer Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." -- John Cage

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 -- colonies represented at the First Continental Congress in 1774. Georgia declined to send delegates.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 2) and full moon (Sept. 8).

Today is the 247th day of 2014 and the 76th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, 44 Spanish settlers founded El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula, now known as Los Angeles.

In 1888, George Eastman patented his roll-film camera and registered the Kodak trademark.

In 1917, the U.S. expeditionary force suffered its first World War I fatalities in France.

In 1998, graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page filed paperwork to incorporate Google, their 2-year-old research project.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Richard Wright (1908-1960), author; Paul Harvey (1918-2009), radio broadcaster; Dick York (1928-1992), actor; Tom Watson (1949- ), professional golfer; Drew Pinsky (1958- ), radio/TV host; Damon Wayans (1960- ), actor/comedian; Mike Piazza (1968- ), baseball player; Wes Bentley (1978- ), actor; Beyonce Knowles (1981- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Whitney Cummings (1982- ), actress/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: The average salary of a Google intern is $5,969 per month.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, American swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread." -- Richard Wright, "Native Son"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3,857,799 -- estimated population of the city of Los Angeles in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 2) and full moon (Sept. 8).

Today is the 246th day of 2014 and the 75th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War.

In 1838, abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in Baltimore.

In 1939, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany in response to the country's invasion of Poland.

In 1976, the unmanned Viking II landed on the surface of Mars to take the first close-up color photos of the planet's surface.

In 2004, a three-day hostage situation at a school in Beslan, Russia, ended with a gun battle that killed more than 300 people, including 186 children.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Louis Sullivan (1856-1924), architect; Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951), automotive engineer; Kitty Carlisle (1910-2007), actress; Alan Ladd (1913-1964), actor; Mort Walker (1923- ), cartoonist; Eileen Brennan (1932-2013), actress; Malcolm Gladwell (1963- ), journalist/author; Charlie Sheen (1965- ), actor; Jennie Finch (1980- ), softball player; Shaun White (1986- ), snowboarder/skateboarder.

TODAY'S FACT: Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the automobile company of the same name, designed the first hybrid gasoline-electric car. Known as the Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid, the car went into production in 1900.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, Guiseppe "Nino" Farina won the Italian Grand Prix to become the first Formula One World Drivers champion.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "How strange it seems that education, in practice, so often means suppression: that instead of leading the mind outward to the light of day it crowds things in upon it that darken and weary it." -- Louis Sullivan

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13 -- record number of Winter X Games gold medals claimed by Shaun White from 2003 to 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Sept. 2) and full moon (Sept. 8).