Today is the 240th day of 2016 and the 69th day of summer.
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TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1859, the first successful oil well in the United States was drilled by Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which outlawed war and provided guidelines to peaceful conflict resolution, was signed by 15 nations in Paris.
In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others were killed in a boat explosion for which the Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility.
In 1999, the final crew left Russia's Mir space station.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), philosopher; Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), novelist; Man Ray (1890-1976), artist/filmmaker; Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973), 36th U.S. president; Ira Levin (1929-2007), author; Alice Coltrane (1937-2007), jazz musician; Paul Reubens (1952- ), actor; Cesar Millan (1969- ), dog trainer; Chandra Wilson (1969- ), actress; Sarah Chalke (1976- ), actress; Aaron Paul (1979- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: The Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars, also known as the Mars Grand Canyon, stretches for 2,500 miles and is up to four miles deep.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1982, Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson stole his 119th base of the year, setting a new single-season record. He went on to steal three more bases by the end of the game and finished the season with 130 stolen bases, a record that still stands.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The heart is everywhere, and each part of the organism is only the specialized force of the heart itself." -- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
TODAY'S NUMBER: 43,129,566 -- votes cast for Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 presidential election. Johnson won 61.1 percent of the popular vote over his opponent, Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona, in the most lopsided win since James Monroe's re-election in 1820.
TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 24) and new moon (Sept. 1).