ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 125th day of 2017 and the 47th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1809, Mary Kies became the first woman to receive a U.S. patent, for a weaving technique.

In 1821, exiled former French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte died in British custody on the island of Saint Helena.

In 1862, the Mexican army halted the invading French army in the Battle of Puebla. This day would later be celebrated as the "Cinco de Mayo" holiday.

In 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into outer space.

In 1994, 18-year-old American Michael P. Fay was caned in Singapore as punishment for theft and vandalism.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), philosopher; Karl Marx (1818-1883), philosopher; Nellie Bly (1864-1922), journalist; Tyrone Power (1914-1958), actor; Michael Palin (1943- ), actor/comedian; John Rhys-Davies (1944- ), actor; Brian Williams (1959- ), TV journalist; Craig David (1981- ), singer-songwriter; Henry Cavill (1983- ), actor; Adele (1988- ), singer-songwriter; Chris Brown (1989- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Tchaikovsky was the guest conductor at the grand opening of New York's Carnegie Hall (then called the Music Hall) on this day in 1891.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby with a time of 1:59:40, a record that still stands.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." -- Soren Kierkegaard, "Either/Or"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 21 -- perfect games (as of April 2017) thrown by major league pitchers in baseball's modern era. A perfect game is one in which no opposing player reaches base. Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox became the first pitcher to accomplish the feat on this day in 1904.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 2) and full moon (May 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 124th day of 2017 and the 46th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1886, a labor demonstration in Chicago's Haymarket Square turned violent when a bomb exploded and demonstrators began rioting.

In 1959, the first Grammy Awards were held.

In 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University during an anti-war protest.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister in British history.

In 1998, "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski was sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years in Sacramento, California.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Horace Mann (1796-1859), educator; Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), author/activist; Hosni Mubarak (1928- ), former president of Egypt; Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), actress/UNICEF ambassador; Roberta Peters (1930-2017), opera singer; Dick Dale (1937- ), guitarist; George Will (1941- ), journalist/author; Randy Travis (1959- ), singer-songwriter; Will Arnett (1970- ), actor; Erin Andrews (1978- ), sportscaster; Lance Bass (1979- ), singer; Rory McIlroy (1989- ), golfer.

TODAY'S FACT: About 14.6 million Americans were members of a labor union in 2016.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1963, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bob Shaw set the major league record for balks in a game, with five balks in a 7-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Let us labor for that larger and larger comprehension of truth, that more and more thorough repudiation of error, which shall make the history of mankind a series of ascending developments." -- Horace Mann, "Thoughts"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5 million -- copies of Life magazine sold in two days, when the magazine published an excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" on Sept. 1, 1952. Widely considered Hemingway's finest work, the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize on this day in 1953.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 2) and full moon (May 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 123rd day of 2017 and the 45th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

In 1921, West Virginia approved the first state sales tax.

In 1973, construction was completed on Chicago's Sears Tower (later renamed the Willis Tower), the tallest building in the world at the time.

In 2006, the jury in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiracy in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, recommended a sentence of life in prison.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), statesman/philosopher; Golda Meir (1898-1978), Israeli prime minister; Bing Crosby (1903-1977), singer/actor; Pete Seeger (1919-2014), singer-songwriter; Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989), boxer; James Brown (1933-2006), singer-songwriter; Frankie Valli (1934- ), singer; Greg Gumbel (1946- ), sportscaster; Amy Ryan (1969- ), actress; Bobby Cannavale (1970- ), actor; Christina Hendricks (1975- ), actress; Dule Hill (1975- ), actor; Cheryl Burke (1984- ), dancer.

TODAY'S FACT: Residents of Washington, D.C., did not receive the right to vote in presidential elections until the 23rd Amendment was passed in 1961.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1987, Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers played his final game, finishing with 30,026 points, 10,525 rebounds and 5,176 assists in his professional basketball (ABA and NBA) career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice." -- Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 23 -- hours of solitary confinement each day for prisoners at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, where Zacarias Moussaoui is imprisoned.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (May 2) and full moon (May 10).