Today is the 180th day of 2015 and the ninth day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the interstate system.

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty as it was then applied in the United States was unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment."

In 1974, Isabel Peron was sworn in as Argentina's president, becoming the Western Hemisphere's first female head of government.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir station in orbit for the first time.

In 2007, Apple Inc. released the first iPhone.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry Frazee (1881-1929), producer/Red Sox owner; Alan Blumlein (1903-1942), engineer; Leroy Anderson (1908-1975), composer; Slim Pickens (1919-1983), actor; Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011), baseball player; Gary Busey (1944- ), actor; Richard Lewis (1947- ), actor/comedian; Dan Dierdorf (1949- ), football player/sportscaster; Matthew Weiner (1965- ), TV writer/producer; Bret McKenzie (1976- ), comedian/musician; Kawhi Leonard (1991- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The United States ranked fifth in the world for the highest number of executions in 2014, behind China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Arizona Diamondback pitcher Randy Johnson became the fourth pitcher in Major League Baseball with 4,000 career strikeouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you've ever had somebody try to sell you something -- people who can sell, they really are not manipulating you. They are selling themselves." -- Matthew Weiner

TODAY'S NUMBER: 47,856 -- miles of roads in the U.S. interstate highway system.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (June 24) and full moon (July 1).

Today is the 179th day of 2015 and the eighth day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, sparking World War I.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I.

In 1950, North Korean troops captured Seoul.

In 1965, the United States launched its first major military offensive in Vietnam.

In 2004, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), painter; Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), philosopher; Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), violinist; Richard Rodgers (1902-1979), composer; Mel Brooks (1926- ), actor/filmmaker; Kathy Bates (1948- ), actress; John Elway (1960- ), football player/executive; John Cusack (1966- ), actor; Mary Stuart Masterson (1966- ), actress; Mike White (1970- ), filmmaker; Rob Dyrdek (1974- ), skateboarder/actor.

TODAY'S FACT: President Woodrow Wilson was the first of the leaders at Versailles to sign the treaty ending World War I.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1997, Mike Tyson was disqualified from a heavyweight title fight when the former champion twice bit titleholder Evander Holyfield's ears in the third round.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have never thought, for my part, that man's freedom consists in his being able to do whatever he wills, but that he should not, by any human power, be forced to do what is against his will." -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Reveries of the Solitary Walker"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 -- Academy Award given to Mel Brooks (for the screenplay of "The Producers" in 1968) over his more than half-century-long career.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (June 24) and full moon (July 1).

Today is the 178th day of 2015 and the seventh day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1829, British chemist James Smithson died, leaving an endowment for "the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

In 1844, Mormon religion founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by an anti-Mormon mob at the jail where they were being held in Carthage, Illinois.

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman sent the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to fight in the Korean War.

In 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decertified Route 66.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Emma Goldman (1869-1940), labor leader; Helen Keller (1880-1968), activist/author; H. Ross Perot (1930- ), businessman/politician; Vera Wang (1949- ), fashion designer; J.J. Abrams (1966- ), TV/film producer; Tobey Maguire (1975- ), actor; Ed Westwick (1987- ), actor; Chandler Riggs (1999- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams flew 39 combat missions during the Korean War. Williams sat out nearly five Major League Baseball seasons due to his military service in World War II and Korea.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2001, the Washington Wizards drafted 19-year-old center Kwame Brown, marking the first time a high school student was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We differ, blind and seeing, one from another, not in our senses, but in the use we make of them, in the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond the senses." -- Helen Keller, "The Five-sensed World"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 million -- visitors to Smithsonian Institution museums in 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (June 24) and full moon (July 1).