Today is the 254th day of 2014 and the 83rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1857, Mormon guerillas and Paiute Indians massacred 120 pioneers in Mountain Meadows, Utah.

In 1939, Canada made its first declaration of war, joining the Allies in opposition to Nazi Germany.

In 2001, hijacked planes crashed into New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Virginia and a Pennsylvania field in terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

In 2012, a heavily armed militia attacked the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: O. Henry (1862-1910), short-story writer; D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), author; Paul "Bear" Bryant (1913-1983), football coach; Tom Landry (1924-2000), football coach; Brian De Palma (1940- ), film director; Virginia Madsen (1961- ), actress; Moby (1965- ), singer-songwriter; Harry Connick Jr. (1967- ), actor/singer-songwriter; Ludacris (1977- ), rapper/actor; Ed Reed (1978- ), football player; Jacoby Ellsbury (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency because of a sitting president's death. During the term he served, after William Henry Harrison's month-long presidency, Tyler was often referred to slightingly as "His Accidency" or "Acting President."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's record with his 4,192nd career hit.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It ain't the roads we take; it's what's inside of us that makes us turn out the way we do." -- O. Henry, "The Roads We Take"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4,256 -- total career hits for Pete Rose, which remains the Major League Baseball record.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 8) and last quarter moon (Sept. 15).

Today is the 253rd day of 2014 and the 82nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1846, Elias Howe patented the first sewing machine.

In 1977, France used a guillotine in carrying out a death sentence for the last time.

In 2002, Switzerland became a member of the United Nations.

In 2008, the Large Hadron Collider was powered up for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Adele Astaire (1896-1981), dancer; Arnold Palmer (1929- ), golfer; Charles Kuralt (1934-1997), TV journalist; Roger Maris (1934-1985), baseball player; Buck Buchanan (1940-1992), football player; Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), biologist/writer; Bill O'Reilly (1949- ), TV host/author; Chris Columbus (1958- ), film director; Colin Firth (1960- ), actor; Randy Johnson (1963- ), baseball player; Guy Ritchie (1968- ), filmmaker; Ryan Phillippe (1974- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The United Nations, which included 193 member states as of August 2014, began in 1945, when representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw the charter.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, the U.S. men's basketball team fell for the first time in Olympic competition, suffering a controversial 51-50 loss to the Soviet Union team on a last-second shot in the gold medal match.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within." -- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Mismeasure of Man"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 140 -- countries that have abolished the use of capital punishment in law or practice as of 2014, according to Amnesty International.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 8) and last quarter moon (Sept. 15).

Today is the 252nd day of 2014 and the 81st day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1776, the Continental Congress officially changed the name of the "United Colonies" to the "United States" of America.

In 1791, the capital of the United States was named Washington, D.C., after President George Washington.

In 1850, California was admitted as the 31st U.S. state.

In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), author; Harland David "Colonel" Sanders (1890-1980), businessman; Cliff Robertson (1923-2011), actor; Otis Redding (1941-1967), singer-songwriter; Joe Theismann (1949- ), sportscaster/football player; Hugh Grant (1960- ), actor; Bob Stoops (1960- ), football coach; Adam Sandler (1966- ), comedian/actor; Eric Stonestreet (1971- ), actor; Michael Buble (1975- ), singer; Michelle Williams (1980- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: California did not go through a formal period as a U.S. territory. It quickly achieved the 60,000 residents required for statehood, due to the Gold Rush.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1965, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax threw a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Progress consists, not in the increase of truth, but in freeing it from its wrappings. The truth is obtained like gold, not by letting it grow bigger, but by washing off from it everything that isn't gold." -- Leo Tolstoy

TODAY'S NUMBER: 207.8 million -- albums certified sold by Elvis Presley, making him second only to the Beatles (264.2 million) as the greatest-selling artist of all time.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Sept. 8) and last quarter moon (Sept. 15).