ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 245th day of 2019 and the 74th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1666, the Great Fire of London began as a small fire in a bakeshop, ending three days later after destroying more than 13,000 buildings.

In 1789, Congress created the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt made his "speak softly and carry a big stick" speech on American foreign policy.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace stationed state troopers around Tuskegee High School to prevent integration.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Romare Bearden (1911-1988), artist/author; Billy Preston (1946-2006), musician; Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (1948- ), basketball player; Terry Bradshaw (1948- ), sportscaster/football player; Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986), teacher/astronaut; Mark Harmon (1951- ), actor; Jimmy Connors (1952- ), tennis player; Eric Dickerson (1960- ), football player; Keanu Reeves (1964- ), actor; Lennox Lewis (1965- ), boxer; Salma Hayek (1966- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The first ATM in the United States was put into service at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York, on this day in 1969.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, Wilma Rudolph ran the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds to claim the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rome. She was awarded the world record for her sprint, only to have it revoked because wind speeds were higher than allowed.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Painting and art cannot be taught. You can save time if someone tells you to put blue and yellow together to make green, but the essence of painting is a self-disciplined activity that you have to learn by yourself." -- Romare Bearden

TODAY'S NUMBER: 18 -- books authored by Theodore Roosevelt, including his autobiography, a biography of Oliver Cromwell and his best-selling personal memoir of the Spanish-American War, "The Rough Riders."

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 30) and first quarter moon (Sept. 5).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 244th day of 2019 and the 73rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1897, the first section of Boston's subway system -- the first underground public transportation in the United States -- opened.

In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II.

In 1985, American and French researchers discovered the wreckage of the luxury liner Titanic on the ocean floor near Newfoundland.

In 2004, Chechen militants took more than 1,100 people hostage at a school in Beslan, Russia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921), composer; Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), author/journalist; Richard Farnsworth (1920-2000), actor; Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), boxer; Conway Twitty (1933-1993), singer-songwriter; Alan Dershowitz (1938- ), attorney; Lily Tomlin (1939- ), actress/comedian; Barry Gibb (1946- ), singer-songwriter; James Rebhorn (1948-2014), actor; Gloria Estefan (1957- ), singer-songwriter; Padma Lakshmi (1970- ), actress; Zendaya (1996- ), singer/actress.

TODAY'S FACT: "A Trip to the Moon," widely considered the first science-fiction film, was released in France on this day in 1902.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1964, San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in the American major leagues, pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in New York City.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I had gone thoroughly through some of the all-fiction magazines and I made up my mind that if people were paid for writing such rot as I read I could write stories just as rotten." -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, "How I Wrote the Tarzan Books"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 900 -- unmarked graves unearthed by workers building the first section of the Boston subway system in the late 19th century.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 30) and first quarter moon (Sept. 5).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 243rd day of 2019 and the 72nd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1888, the body of the first victim of London serial killer Jack the Ripper was found.

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act.

In 1954, Hurricane Carol made landfall over Long Island and Connecticut and soon became one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit New England.

In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident in Paris.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Maria Montessori (1870-1952), physician/educator; William Saroyan (1908-1981), playwright; Buddy Hackett (1924-2003), comedian/actor; James Coburn (1928-2002), actor; Frank Robinson (1935- ), baseball player/manager; Van Morrison (1945- ), singer-songwriter; Itzhak Perlman (1945- ), violinist; Tom Coughlin (1946- ), football executive; Richard Gere (1949- ), actor; Debbie Gibson (1970- ), singer-songwriter; Chris Tucker (1971- ), actor; Larry Fitzgerald (1983- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The last original episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" aired on this day in 2001.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr., playing for the Seattle Mariners, became the first father-son duo to be in the same Major League Baseball lineup.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everything and everybody is sooner or later identified, defined, and put in perspective. The truth as always is simultaneously better and worse than what the popular myth-making has it." -- William Saroyan, "Memories of the Depression"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- weeks atop the 1951 Billboard charts for Rosemary Clooney's recording of "Come on-a My House," written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyen and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian, creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Aug. 30) and first quarter moon (Sept. 5).