ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
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Today is the 225th day of 2017 and the 55th day of summer.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1521, Hernando Cortes captured the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan (later Mexico City), after a three-month siege.
In 1907, the first gasoline-powered taxicab took fares in New York City.
In 1918, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.
In 1961, East German soldiers began constructing a barbed-wire barrier between the eastern and western parts of Berlin.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter; Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), film director; Ben Hogan (1912-1997), golfer; Fidel Castro (1926-2016), former Cuban president; Don Ho (1930-2007), singer; Philippe Petit (1949- ), tightrope walker; Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007), singer-songwriter; Paul Greengrass (1955- ), film director; John Slattery (1962- ), actor; Valerie Plame (1963- ), CIA agent/author; Shani Davis (1982- ), Olympic speed skater; Demetrious Johnson (1986- ), mixed martial artist; DeMarcus Cousins (1990- ), basketball player.
TODAY'S FACT: Fidel Castro, a 14-year-old boarding school student in 1940, wrote a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting a $10 bill. The U.S. Embassy in Havana sent a brief thank-you note to Castro in response.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige pitched his first complete game at age 42.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Give them pleasure -- the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare." – Alfred Hitchcock, on audiences
TODAY'S NUMBER: 305 -- women who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps (women were allowed to enlist for office, clerical and secretarial duties) in 1918.
TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 7) and last quarter moon (Aug. 14).