ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 156th day of 2018 and the 78th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed the Marshall Plan for economic aid to war-torn Europe.

In 1956, Elvis Presley gave his famous hip-shaking performance of "Hound Dog" on "The Milton Berle Show."

In 1968, U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

In 2004, former President Ronald Reagan died of pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer's disease at age 93.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Adam Smith (1723-1790), economist/philosopher; John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), economist; Richard Scarry (1919-1994), children's author; Bill Moyers (1934- ), TV journalist/author; Spalding Gray (1941-2004), actor/writer; Robert Kraft (1941- ), businessman; Ken Follett (1949- ), author; Suze Orman (1951- ), financial adviser/author; Kenny G (1956- ), musician; Jeff Garlin (1962- ), actor/comedian; Rick Riordan (1964- ), author; Brian McKnight (1969- ), singer-songwriter; Mark Wahlberg (1971- ), actor; Pete Wentz (1979- ), singer-songwriter/musician.

TODAY'S FACT: The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 5.7 million Americans (5.5 million of whom are age 65 or older) are living with Alzheimer's dementia.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1993, Julie Krone rode Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first female jockey ever to win a Triple Crown race.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Why was it, Lloyd wondered, that the people who wanted to destroy everything good about their country were the quickest to wave the national flag?" -- Ken Follett, "Winter of the World"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 20.9 -- approximate percentage of the Israeli population that is Arab.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 29) and last quarter moon (June 6).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 155th day of 2018 and the 77th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to pass a minimum wage law.

In 1917, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded.

In 1942, the Battle of Midway began as the Japanese navy launched a raid on Midway Island.

In 1989, Chinese government troops and tanks crushed a massive demonstration of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

In 1998, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Merrill (1917-2004), opera singer; Dennis Weaver (1924-2006), actor; Ruth Westheimer (1928- ), therapist/media personality; Bruce Dern (1936- ), actor; Mortimer B. Zuckerman (1937- ), publisher/real estate executive; Michelle Phillips (1944- ), singer-songwriter; Keith David (1956- ), actor; John Hockenberry (1956- ), journalist/author; Scott Wolf (1968- ), actor; Noah Wyle (1971- ), actor; Russell Brand (1975- ), comedian/actor; Angelina Jolie (1975- ), actress; T.J. Miller (1981- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The AFL-CIO estimates that union members earn 27 percent higher wages than their nonunion counterparts.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1927, the United States won golf's first-ever Ryder Cup at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I want to change the world, and do something valuable and beautiful. I want people to remember me before I'm dead, and then more afterwards." -- Russell Brand, "My Booky Wook"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 21 -- Pulitzer Prizes normally awarded each year. Online-only news organizations were eligible for 14 journalism prizes for the first time in 2009.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 29) and last quarter moon (June 6).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 154th day of 2018 and the 76th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the National Defense Act, expanding the size and scope of the U.S. National Guard.

In 1965, Edward H. White II, an astronaut on Gemini IV, became the first American to "walk" in space.

In 1979, the Ixtoc I oil well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out, spilling more than 600,000 tons of oil over an area of 1,100 square miles.

In 2017, eight people were killed and dozens were injured when terrorists crashed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and attacked the crowd with knives.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), president of the Confederate States of America; Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), artist; Tony Curtis (1925-2010), actor; Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), poet; Chuck Barris (1929-2017), game show host; Raul Castro (1931- ), president of Cuba; Larry McMurtry (1936- ), author; Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999), singer-songwriter/musician; Anderson Cooper (1967- ), TV journalist; John Hodgman (1971- ), author/actor; Rafael Nadal (1986- ), tennis player; Yordano Ventura (1991-2017), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: According to the results of the 1860 census, the slave population outnumbered the free population in two states: Mississippi and South Carolina.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1888, the comic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was published in the San Francisco Examiner.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas without eating a chicken fried steak." -- Larry McMurtry, "In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 25 -- length, in feet, of the tether attaching Edward H. White II to the Gemini spacecraft during the first U.S. spacewalk.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 29) and last quarter moon (June 6).