Today is the 217th day of 2015 and the 46th day of summer.
Advertisement
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was installed on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
In 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan began to fire 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers for violating his order to return to work.
In 2010, a cave-in at the San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chile, trapped 33 miners 2,300 feet underground.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), author/poet; Joseph Merrick aka "The Elephant Man" (1862-1890); John Huston (1906-1987), actor/director; Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), astronaut; Herb Brooks (1937-2003), hockey coach; Loni Anderson (1945- ), actress; David Baldacci (1960- ), novelist; Patrick Ewing (1962- ), basketball player; Adam Yauch (1964-2012), rapper; James Gunn (1970- ), filmmaker; Lolo Jones (1982- ), Olympic athlete.
TODAY'S FACT: Norma Jeane Baker began using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946, but did not legally change her name until 1956.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, Pete Rose of the Phillies hit his 2,427th career single, breaking Honus Wagner's National League record. Rose would finish his career with 3,215 singles, a record that still stands.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: It gives back life to those who no longer exist." -- Guy de Maupassant
TODAY'S NUMBER: 91 -- minutes legendary magician Harry Houdini spent underwater in a sealed coffin before emerging unharmed, on this day in 1926. The event was Houdini's last public escape.
TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (July 31) and last quarter moon (Aug. 6).