Today is the 102nd day of 2015 and the 24th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in the first engagement of the Civil War.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to travel in space and the first to orbit the Earth.

In 1981, the first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry Clay (1777-1852), politician/statesman; Lily Pons (1898-1976), opera singer/actress; Beverly Cleary (1916- ), author; Herbie Hancock (1940- ), musician; Ed O'Neill (1946- ), actor; Tom Clancy (1947-2013), author; David Letterman (1947- ), TV personality; Scott Turow (1949- ), author; Jon Krakauer (1954- ), author; Andy Garcia (1956- ), actor; Vince Gill (1957- ), singer-songwriter; Claire Danes (1979- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Franklin D. Roosevelt has consistently come in first or second in the Zogby International Presidential Greatness polls since 1997, but his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, consistently outranked him in approval polls during his lifetime.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1981, the New York Giants selected University of North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor in the first round of the NFL draft.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Quite often somebody will say, 'What year do your books take place?' and the only answer I can give is, in childhood." -- Beverly Cleary

TODAY'S NUMBER: 108 -- length (in minutes) of the first orbital human spaceflight, by Yuri Gagarin aboard the Vostok 3KA spacecraft on this day in 1961.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 11) and new moon (April 18).

Today is the 101st day of 2015 and the 23rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1814, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated the throne and was banished to the island of Elba.

In 1945, U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp.

In 1951, President Harry Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command in Korea.

In 1979, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was overthrown.

In 2006, Iran announced that it had successfully enriched uranium.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Dean Acheson (1893-1971), diplomat/statesman; Oleg Cassini (1913-2006), fashion designer; Joel Grey (1932- ), actor; Louise Lasser (1939- ), actress; Thomas Harris (1940- ), author/screenwriter; Jason Varitek (1972- ), baseball player; Jennifer Esposito (1973- ), actress; Mark Teixeira (1980- ), baseball player; Joss Stone (1987- ), singer.

TODAY'S FACT: Idi Amin was one of only two native officers in Uganda's military when the nation gained its independence in 1962.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Phil Mickelson won his first Masters Tournament after eight second- or third-place majors finishes in almost 12 years as a professional golfer, sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to edge Ernie Els by a single stroke.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It is a mistake to interpret too literally and sweepingly the poet's admonition that things are not what they seem. Sometimes they are, and it is often essential to survival to know when they are and when they are not." -- Dean Acheson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 35.9 million -- estimated population of Uganda in July 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (April 11).

Today is the 100th day of 2015 and the 22nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City.

In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was published in New York City.

In 1938, Nazi Germany officially annexed Austria.

In 1972, famed comic actor and director Charlie Chaplin received an honorary Oscar at the 44th Annual Academy Awards, after a 12-minute standing ovation.

In 2003, Congress approved the Amber Alert system, which alerts the public to child abductions.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Hazlitt (1778-1830), writer; William Booth (1829-1912), Salvation Army founder; Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher; Harry Morgan (1915-2011), actor; Max von Sydow (1929- ), actor; Omar Sharif (1932- ), actor; John Madden (1936- ), football coach/broadcaster; Steven Seagal (1952- ), actor; Babyface (1959- ), singer-songwriter/producer; Michael Pitt (1981- ), actor; Mandy Moore (1984- ), actress/singer-songwriter; Haley Joel Osment (1988- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: According to 2014 estimates from the CIA, residents of the 0.77-square-mile principality of Monaco enjoy the longest life expectancy in the world, at an average of 89.6 years.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers announced the purchase of Jackie Robinson's contract from the Montreal Royals, a minor-league club.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves." -- William Hazlitt, "Characteristics: In the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 69.9 million -- dogs owned as pets in the United States in 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 4) and last quarter moon (April 11).