Today is the 174th day of 2016 and the third 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 find I am shedding hypocrisy in human relationships. What a rest that will be! The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "Gift From the Sea"

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 full moon (June 20) and last quarter moon (June 27).

Today is the 173rd day of 2016 and the second 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 1982, John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.

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), filmmaker; 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: "I know that I shall never again meet anything or anybody who will inspire me with passion. You know, it's quite a job starting to love somebody. You have to have energy, generosity, blindness. There is even a moment, in the very beginning, when you have to jump across a precipice: If you think about it you don't do it. I know I'll never jump again." -- Jean-Paul Sartre, "Nausea"

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (June 20) and last quarter moon (June 27).

Today is the 172nd day of 2016 and the first day of summer.

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 1900, the Boxer Rebellion began in China, as the Imperial Chinese Army began a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing.

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

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

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: "I do not believe in recovery. The past with its pleasures, its rewards, its foolishness, its punishments, is there for each of us forever, and it should be." -- Lillian Hellman, "Scoundrel Time"

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: Full moon (June 20).