ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 235th day of 2017 and the 65th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1305, Scottish leader William Wallace was executed in London.

In 1939, Germany's Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin signed a nonaggression pact.

In 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began as Nazi and Soviet troops fought for control of the city.

In 1966, the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft transmitted the first photo of Earth from orbit around the moon.

In 1999, the first cases of West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere were reported in New York City.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), poet; Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950), author; Ernie Bushmiller (1905-1982), cartoonist; Gene Kelly (1912-1996), actor/dancer; Vera Miles (1929- ), actress; Barbara Eden (1931- ), actress; Shelley Long (1949- ), actress; Rick Springfield (1949- ), singer/musician; Jay Mohr (1970- ), actor/comedian; River Phoenix (1970-1993), actor; Ray Park (1974- ), actor/stuntman; Kobe Bryant (1978- ), basketball player; Jeremy Lin (1988- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1973, an attempted bank robbery led to a hostage situation in Stockholm, Sweden. The behavior of the victims gave rise to the term “Stockholm syndrome” to describe the condition in which hostages develop sympathetic feelings toward their captors.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, Taiwan won its first Little League World Series. The nation went on to win nine more titles in the next 12 years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "That the much-sought prize of eternal youth / Is just arrested growth." -- Edgar Lee Masters, "Ami Green"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 22 -- listings with the surname Hitler in the New York City phone book prior to World War II. None were listed there when the war ended.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 21) and first quarter moon (Aug. 29).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 234th day of 2017 and the 64th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1851, the American yacht America won the first America's Cup.

In 1864, the first Geneva Convention, which established protections for those wounded in active warfare, was signed by 12 European nations.

In 1902, the Cadillac Automobile Co. was founded.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act welfare reform into law.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Claude Debussy (1862-1918), composer; George Herriman (1880-1944), cartoonist; Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), author; Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), film director/actress; Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), author; Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012), general; Valerie Harper (1939- ), actress; Bill Parcells (1941- ), football coach; David Chase (1945- ), screenwriter/producer; Tori Amos (1963- ), singer-songwriter; Layne Staley (1967-2002), singer-songwriter; Kristen Wiig (1973- ), actress/comedian; James Corden (1978- ), TV personality.

TODAY'S FACT: The Comics Journal named George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" the best American comic strip of the 20th century in 1999.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A's, becoming the first major league pitcher to reach 5,000 strikeouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." -- Ray Bradbury

TODAY'S NUMBER: 196 -- nations that have acceded to the Geneva Conventions.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 21) and first quarter moon (Aug. 29).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 233rd day of 2017 and the 63rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held the first of their seven debates.

In 1863, pro-Confederate guerillas led by William Quantrill raided the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing more than 150 men and boys.

In 1911, an employee stole the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre in Paris. It was recovered two years later.

In 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

In 1991, a coup by Communist hard-liners in the Soviet Union collapsed on the third day.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William "Count" Basie (1904-1984), musician; Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999), basketball player; Kenny Rogers (1938- ), singer-songwriter; Peter Weir (1944- ), film director; Joe Strummer (1952-2002), musician; Kim Cattrall (1956- ), actress; Carrie-Anne Moss (1967- ), actress; Sergey Brin (1973- ), Google co-founder; Kelis (1979- ), singer; Usain Bolt (1986- ), Olympic sprinter; Hayden Panettiere (1989- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Digital scans of the "Mona Lisa" in 2007 revealed that da Vinci had originally given his subject eyebrows and more prominent eyelashes, which had faded over time or had been lost to restoration efforts.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1947, the first National Little League Tournament (later renamed the Little League World Series) was held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, featuring only local teams. The Williamsport team defeated the team from Lock Haven by a score of 16-7.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The way you get a better world is, you don't put up with substandard anything." -- Joe Strummer

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 million -- people who view Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" at the Louvre in Paris annually.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Aug. 21).