Today is the 173rd day of 2015 and the second day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1815, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne for the second time.

In 1870, Congress created the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 1942, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the U.S. Flag Code.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the GI Bill, providing benefits to veterans.

In 1945, the Battle for Okinawa ended in an Allied victory after 83 days of fighting.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001), aviator/author; Billy Wilder (1906-2002), director; Bill Blass (1922-2002), fashion designer; Kris Kristofferson (1936- ), singer/actor; Ed Bradley (1941-2006), journalist; Meryl Streep (1949- ), actress; Bruce Campbell (1958- ), actor; Randy Couture (1963- ), mixed martial artist/actor; Amy Brenneman (1964- ), actress; Dan Brown (1964- ), author; Kurt Warner (1971- ), football player; Carson Daly (1973- ), TV personality.

TODAY'S FACT: The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in the September 1892 issue of The Youth's Companion magazine, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1937, Joe Louis knocked out Jim Braddock in the eighth round, becoming the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion since Jack Johnson in 1915.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "Locked Rooms and Open Doors"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 49 -- percentage of U.S. college students who were war veterans in 1947, marking the peak year of the GI Bill education program.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 16) and first quarter moon (June 24).

Today is the 172nd day of 2015 and the first day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, New Hampshire ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the ninth state.

In 1898, U.S. troops captured the island of Guam.

In 1964, three civil rights workers were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag was a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.

In 2004, SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike Melvill, became the first privately sponsored craft to carry a human into space.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003), cartoonist; Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), philosopher; Mary McCarthy (1912-1989), writer; Jane Russell (1921-2011), actress; Ray Davies (1944- ), guitarist/songwriter; Tony Scott (1944-2012), film director/producer; Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007), Pakistani politician; Berkeley Breathed (1957- ), cartoonist; Kevin Harlan (1960- ), sportscaster; Juliette Lewis (1973- ), actress; Chris Pratt (1979- ), actor; Prince William (1982- ), Duke of Cambridge.

TODAY'S FACT: James Buchanan was the only U.S. president who never married.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, the first Women's National Basketball Association game kicked off the league's debut season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "In a word, man must create his own essence: It is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines himself." -- Jean-Paul Sartre, "Characterizations of Existentialism"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 142,000 -- population of New Hampshire in 1790, following ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 16) and first quarter moon (June 24).

Today is the 171st day of 2015 and the 93rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1863, West Virginia was admitted as the 35th U.S. state.

In 1893, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.

In 1973, Juan Peron returned to Argentina after 18 years of exile.

In 1975, the Steven Spielberg film "Jaws" debuted in theaters.

In 1999, NATO formally ended its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia as Serb forces completed their withdrawal from Kosovo.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), playwright; Errol Flynn (1909-1959), actor; Chet Atkins (1924-2001), singer-songwriter; Audie Murphy (1924-1971), war hero/actor; Martin Landau (1928- ), actor; Brian Wilson (1942- ), musician/singer-songwriter; Bob Vila (1946- ), handyman/TV personality; Lionel Richie (1949- ), singer-songwriter; John Goodman (1952- ), actor; Nicole Kidman (1967- ), actress; Robert Rodriguez (1968- ), filmmaker; Christopher Mintz-Plasse (1989- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Western Argentina is home to Aconcagua Mountain, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, with an altitude of 22,834 feet.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be inducted. The Supreme Court overturned Ali's conviction in 1971.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everything I've ever done was out of fear of being mediocre." -- Chet Atkins

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 -- Grammy Award win for the Beach Boys. The group, which formed in 1961 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, won the Best Historical Album award in 2013 for its "The Smile Sessions" boxed set.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (June 16) and first quarter moon (June 24).