ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 121st day of 2017 and the 43rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1840, the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, was issued in Great Britain.

In 1898, the U.S. Navy, led by Commodore George Dewey, defeated the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War.

In 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was established.

In 2011, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in a nighttime raid in Pakistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Martha "Calamity Jane" Burke (1852-1903), frontierswoman; Jack Paar (1918-2004), comedian/TV host; Joseph Heller (1923-1999), author/playwright; Scott Carpenter (1925-2013), astronaut; John Woo (1946- ), filmmaker; Tim McGraw (1967- ), singer-songwriter; Wes Anderson (1969- ), filmmaker; James Badge Dale (1978- ), actor; Wes Welker (1981- ), football player; Jamie Dornan (1982- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Japan formally annexed Korea in 1910 and held possession of the former "Hermit Kingdom" until after World War II.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics stole his 939th base, setting a new major-league record. Later that evening, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan threw his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If the chance ever comes to you again to fall in love, grab it, every time. You might always live to regret it, but you won't find anything to beat it, and you won't know if it will come to you once more." -- Joseph Heller, "God Knows"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,250 -- architectural height (in feet) of the Empire State Building in New York City, dedicated on this day in 1931.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 26) and first quarter moon (May 2).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 120th day of 2017 and the 42nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, representatives of the United States and France concluded negotiations for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.

In 1812, Louisiana was admitted as the 18th U.S. state.

In 1945, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide as Soviet troops approached his bunker in Berlin, Germany.

In 1975, Saigon, capital of South Vietnam, fell to communist forces, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), mathematician; Eve Arden (1908-1990), actress; Robert Shaw (1916-1999), conductor; Roger Easton (1921-2014), GPS co-inventor; Johnny Horton (1925-1960), musician; Cloris Leachman (1926- ), actress; Gary Collins (1938-2012), actor/talk show host; Isiah Thomas (1961- ), basketball player; Johnny Galecki (1975- ), actor; Kirsten Dunst (1982- ), actress; Gal Gadot (1985- ), model/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: After George Washington died in 1799, his wife, Martha, burned all of the letters the two had exchanged to ensure they would remain private.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1993, an obsessed fan of tennis star Steffi Graf stabbed her 19-year-old rival, Monica Seles, at a tournament match in Hamburg, Germany.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length." -- Carl Friedrich Gauss

TODAY'S NUMBER: 827,192 -- square miles that the United States took possession of in the Louisiana Purchase, at a cost of less than 3 cents per acre.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 26) and first quarter moon (May 2).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 119th day of 2017 and the 41st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1429, 17-year-old Joan of Arc led French forces in relieving the besieged city of Orleans, France.

In 1862, Union forces officially took possession of New Orleans.

In 1945, the Dachau concentration camp in Germany was liberated by U.S. troops.

In 1992, riots broke out in Los Angeles after four police officers were acquitted of using excessive force during the arrest of motorist Rodney King.

In 2011, Great Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in London.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), publisher/politician; Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), orchestra conductor; Duke Ellington (1899-1974), jazz musician; Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001), race car driver; Jerry Seinfeld (1954- ), comedian; Daniel Day-Lewis (1957- ), actor; Michelle Pfeiffer (1958- ), actress; Andre Agassi (1970- ), tennis player; Uma Thurman (1970- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Daniel Day-Lewis is the only actor in history to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role three times.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2015, the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox set the all-time low attendance record for a Major League Baseball game, when fans were not allowed to attend due to violent protests in Baltimore.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Once you start doing only what you've already proven you can do, you're on the road to death." -- Jerry Seinfeld

TODAY'S NUMBER: 19 -- age of Joan of Arc at the time of her death.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 26) and first quarter moon (May 2).