Today is the 156th day of 2016 and the 77th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to pass a minimum wage law.

In 1917, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded.

In 1942, the Battle of Midway began as the Japanese navy launched a raid on Midway Island.

In 1989, Chinese government troops and tanks crushed a massive demonstration of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

In 1998, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Merrill (1917-2004), opera singer; Dennis Weaver (1924-2006), actor; Ruth Westheimer (1928- ), therapist/media personality; Bruce Dern (1936- ), actor; Mortimer B. Zuckerman (1937- ), publisher/real estate executive; Michelle Phillips (1944- ), singer-songwriter; Keith David (1956- ), actor; John Hockenberry (1956- ), journalist/author; Scott Wolf (1968- ), actor; Noah Wyle (1971- ), actor; Russell Brand (1975- ), comedian/actor; Angelina Jolie (1975- ), actress; T.J. Miller (1981- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The AFL-CIO estimates that union members earn 27 percent higher wages than their nonunion counterparts.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1927, the United States won golf's first-ever Ryder Cup at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When I was poor and complained about inequality they said I was bitter; now that I'm rich and I complain about inequality they say I'm a hypocrite. I'm beginning to think they just don't want to talk about inequality." -- Russell Brand

TODAY'S NUMBER: 21 -- Pulitzer Prizes normally awarded each year. Online-only news organizations were eligible for 14 journalism prizes for the first time in 2009.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (June 4).

Today is the 155th day of 2016 and the 76th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the National Defense Act, expanding the size and scope of the U.S. National Guard.

In 1965, Edward H. White II, an astronaut on Gemini IV, became the first American to "walk" in space.

In 1979, the Ixtoc I oil well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out, spilling more than 600,000 tons of oil over an area of 1,100 square miles.

In 2006, Montenegro formally declared its independence from the Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), president of the Confederate States of America; Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), artist; Tony Curtis (1925-2010), actor; Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), poet; Chuck Barris (1929- ), game show host; Raul Castro (1931- ), prime minister of Cuba; Larry McMurtry (1936- ), author; Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999), singer-songwriter/musician; Anderson Cooper (1967- ), TV journalist; John Hodgman (1971- ), author/actor; Rafael Nadal (1986- ), tennis player.

TODAY'S FACT: According to the results of the 1860 census, the slave population outnumbered the free population in two states: Mississippi and South Carolina.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1888, the comic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was published in the San Francisco Examiner.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To gain your own voice, forget about having it heard. Become a saint of your own province and your own consciousness." -- Allen Ginsberg

TODAY'S NUMBER: 25 -- length, in feet, of the tether attaching Edward H. White II to the Gemini spacecraft during the first U.S. spacewalk.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 29) and new moon (June 4).

Today is the 154th day of 2016 and the 75th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1886, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom, becoming the only president to marry in a White House ceremony.

In 1924, an act of Congress granted American Indians U.S. citizenship.

In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

In 2012, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the deaths of hundreds of protestors during a 2011 uprising.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), author/politician; Pope Pius X (1835-1914); Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), poet/novelist; Edward Elgar (1857-1934), composer; Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984), swimmer/actor; Charlie Watts (1941- ), drummer; Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012), composer; Dennis Haysbert (1954- ), actor; Wayne Brady (1972- ), actor/comedian; Zachary Quinto (1977- ), actor; Dominic Cooper (1978- ), actor; Justin Long (1978- ), actor; Morena Baccarin (1979- ), actress; Fabrizio Moretti (1980- ), musician.

TODAY'S FACT: The White House has hosted 21 weddings, nine of which were for children of sitting presidents.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1935, baseball legend Babe Ruth retired after 22 seasons, finishing his career with seven World Series titles and 714 home runs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "She had the hard, half-apathetic expression of one who deems anything possible at the hands of Time and Chance except, perhaps, fair play." -- Thomas Hardy, "The Mayor of Casterbridge"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 336,337 -- official American Indian population in 1920, according to the U.S. Census.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 29) and new moon (June 4).