ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 141st day of 2019 and the 63rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1856, Lawrence, Kansas, was sacked by pro-slavery activists.

In 1881, the American Red Cross was established.

In 1901, Connecticut became the first state to enact a speed-limit law, limiting motor vehicle speeds to 12 mph in the city and 15 mph on country roads.

In 1979, former San Francisco city supervisor Dan White was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexander Pope (1688-1744), poet; Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), artist; Fats Waller (1904-1943), pianist/songwriter; Raymond Burr (1917-1993), actor; Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989), physicist/Russian dissident; Al Franken (1951- ), politician/comedian; Laurence "Mr. T" Tureaud (1952- ), actor; Lisa Edelstein (1966- ), actress; The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997), rapper; Josh Hamilton (1981- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris after leaving Long Island, New York, the day before, completing the first solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight. On the fifth anniversary of the event in 1932, Amelia Earhart landed in Ireland after taking off from Newfoundland, completing the first solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight by a female.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, 21-year-old rookie professional golfer Nancy Lopez won her first Coca-Cola Classic, defeating JoAnne Carner on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends." -- Alexander Pope

TODAY'S NUMBER: 456 -- height (in feet) of Kingda Ka, the world's tallest roller coaster. The ride opened at the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, New Jersey, on this day in 2005.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 18) and last quarter moon (May 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 140th day of 2019 and the 62nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which provided Western settlers free land for farms.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the U.S. patent for blue jeans.

In 1902, Cuba declared independence from the United States.

In 1969, the Battle of Hamburger Hill ended in South Vietnam.

In 2006, Nouri al-Maliki took office as prime minister of Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), author; John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), philosopher; William Fargo (1818-1881), Wells Fargo co-founder; Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997), actor; Joe Cocker (1944-2014), singer-songwriter; Cher (1946- ), singer-songwriter/actress; Ted Allen (1965- ), TV personality; Timothy Olyphant (1968- ), actor; Tony Stewart (1971- ), race car driver; Busta Rhymes (1972- ), rapper; Matt Czuchry (1977- ), actor; Rachel Platten (1981- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1916, the Saturday Evening Post published its first issue featuring a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage") on the cover.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer by a nose in the 114th Preakness Stakes, the horse race's closest margin.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John Stuart Mill

TODAY'S NUMBER: 270 million -- acres of U.S. land given away through the Homestead Act.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 18) and last quarter moon (May 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 139th day of 2019 and the 61st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for alleged adultery.

In 1921, the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, setting a national quota system for immigration.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe performed an infamously seductive rendition of "Happy Birthday" for President John F. Kennedy, a week before his birthday.

In 1963, the New York Post Sunday Magazine published the first excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Vietnamese leader; Malcolm X (1925-1965), civil rights leader; Nora Ephron (1941-2012), filmmaker/writer; Pete Townshend (1945- ), singer-songwriter; Andre the Giant (1946-1993), actor/wrestler; Grace Jones (1948- ), singer/actress; Archie Manning (1949- ), football player; Joey Ramone (1951-2001), singer-songwriter; Kevin Garnett (1976- ), basketball player; Georges St-Pierre (1981- ), martial artist; Rebecca Hall (1982- ), actress; Michael Che (1983- ), comedian; Sam Smith (1992- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: In his late 20s, future Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh lived in Paris, where he worked retouching photos.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, Willy T. Ribbs became the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real." -- Nora Ephron

TODAY'S NUMBER: 39 -- months that Anne Boleyn was married to Henry VIII before her execution.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 18) and last quarter moon (May 26).