ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 132nd day of 2017 and the 54th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1780, British forces took Charleston, South Carolina, during the Revolutionary War.

In 1937, King George VI of the United Kingdom and Elizabeth, the future queen mother, were crowned at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted its blockade of Berlin.

In 2002, Jimmy Carter became the first former or sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.

In 2008, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck in Sichuan province, China, leaving more than 69,000 people dead, 18,000 missing and 4.8 million homeless.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Edward Lear (1812-1888), painter/poet; Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), nurse; Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), actress; Yogi Berra (1925-2015), baseball player/manager; Burt Bacharach (1928- ), composer; George Carlin (1937-2008), comedian; Gabriel Byrne (1950- ), actor; Ving Rhames (1959- ), actor; Tony Hawk (1968- ), skateboarder; Catherine Tate (1968- ), actress; Malin Akerman (1978- ), actress; Jason Biggs (1978- ), actor; Domhnall Gleeson (1983- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, in 1860, and was readmitted in 1868.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008, Cleveland Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit." -- George Carlin, "Brain Droppings"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 -- American presidents who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama).

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 10) and last quarter moon (May 18).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 131st day of 2017 and the 53rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.

In 1894, the Pullman Strike began, involving more than 3,000 Chicago railroad car plant workers.

In 1987, Klaus Barbie faced trial in Lyon, France, for crimes against humanity committed during World War II.

In 1997, the IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov with two wins, one loss and three draws in a six-game match.

In 1998, the first euro coins were minted in France.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer; Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972), actress; Martha Graham (1894-1991), dancer/choreographer; Salvador Dali (1904-1989), painter; Mike Lupica (1952- ), sportswriter; John Clayton (1954- ), sportswriter; Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), actress; Tim Blake Nelson (1964- ), actor; Cory Monteith (1982-2013), actor; Cam Newton (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The 2 euro coin is the highest-valued euro coin, and it is the only one with writing on its edge. Each country has its own design for the edge writing on its 2 euro coin.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, a blizzard on Mount Everest led to the deaths of eight people during summit attempts. The event was depicted in the 2015 film "Everest."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The ones who tell you not to fight are the ones you should fear the most." -- Mike Lupica, "Hero"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 150,000 -- members of the American Railway Union who became involved in the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it spread across the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 10) and last quarter moon (May 18).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 130th day of 2017 and the 52nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1837, after months of economic downturn, several New York banks refused to convert paper currency to gold or silver, setting off the Panic of 1837.

In 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, in ceremonies marking the symbolic completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad.

In 1940, Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of Great Britain.

In 2013, the spire of One World Trade Center was completed, making it the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), actor/assassin; Fred Astaire (1899-1987), singer/dancer/actor; David O. Selznick (1902-1965), film producer; T. Berry Brazelton (1918- ), pediatrician/author; Pat Summerall (1930-2013), football player/broadcaster; Donovan (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Bono (1960- ), singer-songwriter; Linda Evangelista, (1965- ), supermodel; Kenan Thompson (1978- ), actor; Odette Annable (1985- ), actress; Salvador Perez (1990- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: When Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government fell in 1940, King George VI himself summoned Winston Churchill to Buckingham Palace and asked him to form a government.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins scored the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime to give Boston the Stanley Cup title over the St. Louis Blues.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have no desire to prove anything by it. I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself. I just dance." -- Fred Astaire, "Steps in Time"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 140,000 -- miles of freight railroad track currently in operation in the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (May 10).