ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 195th day of 2018 and the 24th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille in Paris.

In 1881, infamous outlaw Billy the Kid was shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett near Fort Sumner in New Mexico.

In 1965, NASA's Mariner 4 began its flyby of Mars, taking the first close-up photos of the planet.

In 2015, NASA's New Horizons probe became the first spacecraft to explore Pluto.

In 2016, a truck was driven into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, killing 86 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), painter; Woody Guthrie (1912-1967), singer-songwriter/musician; Gerald Ford (1913-2006), 38th U.S. president; Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), screenwriter/director; Harry Dean Stanton (1926-2017), actor; Jane Lynch (1960- ), actress; Matthew Fox (1966- ), actor; Brian Selznick (1966- ), writer/illustrator; Darrelle Revis (1985- ), football player; Conor McGregor (1988- ), mixed martial artist.

TODAY'S FACT: NASA's New Horizons probe is currently more than 3.5 billion miles from Earth, traveling at 32,000 mph on its way to its next fly-by target, Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, which it will fly past on Jan. 1, 2019.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 79-61 to win the first WNBA All-Star Game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The note of hope is the only note that can help us or save us from falling to the bottom of the heap of evolution, because, largely, about all a human being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine." -- Woody Guthrie

TODAY'S NUMBER: $192.7 million -- total price fetched for four paintings by Gustav Klimt at a Christie's auction in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 12) and first quarter moon (July 19).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 194th day of 2018 and the 23rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1863, draft riots began in New York City. An estimated 1,000 people were killed or wounded.

In 1973, Alexander Butterfield, deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon, revealed the existence of the "Nixon Tapes" to a senatorial committee investigating the Watergate scandal.

In 1977, a 25-hour blackout hit the New York City area, leaving some 9 million people in darkness and resulting in looting and disorder.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Clare (1793-1864), poet; John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912), businessman; Bob Crane (1928-1978), actor; Jack Kemp (1935-2009), football player/politician; Patrick Stewart (1940- ), actor; Robert Forster (1941- ), actor; Harrison Ford (1942- ), actor; Cheech Marin (1946- ), actor/comedian; Cameron Crowe (1957- ), filmmaker; Tom Kenny (1962- ), actor/comedian; Ken Jeong (1969- ), actor/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison all proposed that Congress pass some form of mandatory military conscription or registration, but none of the proposals succeeded.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1930, France defeated Mexico 4-1 and the United States defeated Belgium 3-0 in the first World Cup soccer matches, held in Montevideo, Uruguay.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I just don't understand the need to name something 'the best' or more better than something else. Saying one thing is better than another, one performance is better than another performance -- there can't be a contest in this area. I don't understand that. -- Harrison Ford

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1.9 billion -- estimated global audience (in 150 countries) that watched the Live Aid concerts, broadcast on this day in 1985 to raise money for African famine relief.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (July 12) and first quarter moon (July 19).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 193rd day of 2018 and the 22nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure creating the U.S. Army Medal of Honor.

In 1871, rioting between Irish Catholics and Protestants in New York City left more than 50 dead.

In 1984, Democratic Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York became the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket.

In 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas raided northern Israel, marking the beginning of a 33-day conflict.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), author/philosopher; Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), architect; Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), lyricist; Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), poet; Milton Berle (1908-2002), comedian; Richard Simmons (1948- ), fitness trainer; Julio Cesar Chavez (1962- ), boxer; Brock Lesnar (1977- ), wrestler/mixed martial artist; Topher Grace (1978- ), actor; Michelle Rodriguez (1978- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Mary Edwards Walker, who served as a surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War, is the only female recipient of the U.S. Army Medal of Honor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, rioting during the Chicago White Sox's "Disco Demolition Night" promotion, in which an explosive-rigged dumpster filled with disco records was destroyed between games of a planned doubleheader, led to 39 arrests and caused the team to forfeit the second game against the Detroit Tigers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living." -- Buckminster Fuller

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3,518 -- recipients of the U.S. Medal of Honor to date. About half of those honorees distinguished themselves during the American Civil War.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (July 12).