Today is the 134th day of 2016 and the 55th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his "blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech to the British House of Commons as Germany's conquest of France began.

In 1943, the German Afrika Korps surrendered to Allied forces in North Africa.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and critically injured by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

In 1985, two blocks of Philadelphia were destroyed by fire after police dropped an incendiary device on the headquarters of MOVE, a black liberation group.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pope Pius IX (1792-1878); Joe Louis (1914-1981), boxer; Bea Arthur (1922-2009), actress; Harvey Keitel (1939- ), actor; Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), singer-songwriter; Stevie Wonder (1950- ), singer-songwriter/pianist; Stephen Colbert (1964- ), TV personality; Darius Rucker (1966- ), singer-songwriter; Barry Zito (1978- ), baseball player; Lena Dunham (1986- ), actress; Robert Pattinson (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Mehmet Ali Agca returned to the Vatican on Dec. 27, 2014, to lay flowers at the tomb of Pope John Paul II, the man he had attempted to assassinate 33 years earlier. His request to meet Pope Francis was denied.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, Alison Hargreaves of Great Britain became the first woman to scale Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I would say laughter is the best medicine. But it's more than that. It's an entire regime of antibiotics and steroids." -- Stephen Colbert

TODAY'S NUMBER: 142,500 -- total salary (in pounds) of the British prime minister in 2015 (around $214,800). The salary of the president of the United States was $400,000 in 2015.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (May 13).

Today is the 133rd day of 2016 and the 54th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1780, British forces took Charleston, South Carolina, during the Revolutionary War.

In 1937, King George VI of the United Kingdom and Elizabeth, the future queen mother, were crowned at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted its blockade of Berlin.

In 2002, Jimmy Carter became the first former or sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.

In 2008, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck in Sichuan province, China, leaving more than 69,000 people dead, 18,000 missing and 4.8 million homeless.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Edward Lear (1812-1888), painter/poet; Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), nurse; Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), actress; Yogi Berra (1925-2015), baseball player/manager; Burt Bacharach (1928- ), composer; George Carlin (1937-2008), comedian; Gabriel Byrne (1950- ), actor; Ving Rhames (1959- ), actor; Tony Hawk (1968- ), skateboarder; Catherine Tate (1968- ), actress; Malin Akerman (1978- ), actress; Jason Biggs (1978- ), actor; Domhnall Gleeson (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, in 1860, and was readmitted in 1868.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008, Cleveland Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" -- George Carlin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 -- American presidents who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama).

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 6) and first quarter moon (May 13).

Today is the 132nd day of 2016 and the 53rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.

In 1894, the Pullman Strike began, involving more than 3,000 Chicago railroad car plant workers.

In 1987, the first heart-lung transplant was performed in Baltimore.

In 1997, the IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov with two wins, one loss and three draws in a six-game match.

In 1998, the first euro coins were minted in France.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer; Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972), actress; Martha Graham (1894-1991), dancer/choreographer; Salvador Dali (1904-1989), painter; Mike Lupica (1952- ), sportswriter; John Clayton (1954- ), sportswriter; Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), actress; Tim Blake Nelson (1964- ), actor; Cory Monteith (1982-2013), actor; Cam Newton (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The 2 euro coin is the highest-valued euro coin, and it is the only one with writing on its edge. Each country has its own design for the edge writing on its 2 euro coin.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, a blizzard on Mount Everest led to the deaths of eight people during summit attempts. The event was depicted in the 2015 film "Everest."

TODAY'S QUOTE: " 'I can't say 'why me,' Brady. That's one of the big no-can-do's. Because if I do that now that bad stuff has happened to me, why didn't I say it about all the amazing stuff that happened to me before?'" -- Mike Lupica, "Million-Dollar Throw"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 150,000 -- members of the American Railway Union who became involved in the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it spread across the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 6) and first quarter moon (May 13).