ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 229th day of 2017 and the 59th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1585, European colonists disembarked at Roanoke Island in North Carolina.

In 1863, Union forces began shelling Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

In 1959, a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck near Hebgen Lake in Montana, causing a landslide that later formed Earthquake Lake.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton testified before a grand jury and later apologized on national television for having a "wrong" relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Davy Crockett (1786-1836), frontiersman/soldier; Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), Black Nationalist leader; Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974), film producer; Mae West (1893-1980), actress; W. Mark Felt (1913-2008), FBI agent; Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015), actress; Robert De Niro (1943- ), actor; Sean Penn (1960- ), actor/director; Jon Gruden (1963- ), football coach/analyst; Donnie Wahlberg (1969- ), singer/actor.

TODAY'S FACT: At the time when he was providing key information on the Watergate scandal to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, W. Mark Felt was the associate director of the FBI, the bureau's second-highest ranking official.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2008 in Beijing, swimmer Michael Phelps won a gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay, becoming the first athlete to win eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is nothing worse than having your personal problems become somebody else's entertainment." -- Maureen O'Hara

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17,508 -- islands counted within the territory of Indonesia, which declared its independence from the Netherlands on this day in 1945.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 14) and new moon (Aug. 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 228th day of 2017 and the 58th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln prohibited Union states from trading with states that had seceded.

In 1896, gold was discovered near the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory, sparking a gold rush.

In 1977, Elvis Presley died at age 42.

In 2007, U.S. citizen Jose Padilla was convicted of conspiracy in a "dirty bomb" terrorism case and sentenced to more than 17 years in prison, increased on appeal to 21.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) (1888-1935), soldier/archaeologist/writer; Hal Foster (1892-1982), author/illustrator; George Meany (1894-1980), union leader; Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), poet/writer; Ann Blyth (1928- ), actress; Eydie Gorme (1928-2013), singer/actress; Frank Gifford (1930-2015), sportscaster/football player; Kathie Lee Gifford (1953- ), actress/TV personality; James Cameron (1954- ), filmmaker; Angela Bassett (1958- ), actress; Madonna (1958- ), singer/actress; Steve Carell (1962- ), actor/comedian; Yu Darvish (1986- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: An 18-year-old Elvis Presley paid a private recording studio $4 in 1953 to record "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartache Begins" on a two-sided record as a belated birthday gift to his mother.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1954, the first issue of Sports Illustrated was published.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals." -- T.E. Lawrence, "The Evolution of a Revolt"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 102,800 -- height (in feet) from which Joseph Kittinger jumped during a record-setting U.S. Air Force experiment on this day in 1960. Though his height and speed records were broken during the Red Bull Stratos project in 2012, Kittinger's 4 minutes, 36 seconds of free fall remains unsurpassed.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 14) and new moon (Aug. 21).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 227th day of 2017 and the 57th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1483, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel was consecrated.

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened.

In 1947, India and Pakistan won independence from Britain.

In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon canceled the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold.

In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and agreed to pay reparations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French emperor; Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet/novelist; Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959), actress; Edna Ferber (1885-1968), author; Julia Child (1912-2004), cookbook author/TV personality; Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), journalist/author; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (1963- ), filmmaker; Debra Messing (1968- ), actress; Ben Affleck (1972- ), actor; Carl Edwards (1979- ), race car driver; Jennifer Lawrence (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The price of gold skyrocketed from $35 per ounce in 1971 to $800 per ounce in 1980 as a result of the economic measures undertaken by President Nixon in 1971.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the third women's golf U.S. Open, even after missing a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, / And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears. / The rose is sweetest wash'd with morning dew, / And love is loveliest when embalm'd in tears." -- Walter Scott, "The Lady of the Lake"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 400,000 -- estimated number of concert-goers who attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair when it opened near Bethel, New York, on this day in 1969.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Aug. 14) and new moon (Aug. 21).