ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 131st day of 2020 and the 53rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1837, after months of economic downturn, several New York banks refused to convert paper currency to gold or silver, setting off the Panic of 1837.

In 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, in ceremonies marking the symbolic completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad.

In 1940, Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of Great Britain following Germany's invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In 2013, the spire of One World Trade Center was completed, making it the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), actor/assassin; Fred Astaire (1899-1987), singer/dancer/actor; David O. Selznick (1902-1965), film producer; T. Berry Brazelton (1918-2018), pediatrician/author; Pat Summerall (1930-2013), football player/broadcaster; Donovan (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Bono (1960- ), singer-songwriter; Linda Evangelista, (1965- ), supermodel; Kenan Thompson (1978- ), actor; Odette Annable (1985- ), actress; Salvador Perez (1990- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: When Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government fell in 1940, King George VI himself summoned Winston Churchill to Buckingham Palace and asked him to form a government.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins scored the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime to give Boston the Stanley Cup title over the St. Louis Blues.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You know, I used to think the future was solid or fixed, something you inherited like an old building that you move into when the previous generation moves out or gets chased out. But it's not. The future is not fixed, it's fluid." -- Bono

TODAY'S NUMBER: 140,000 -- miles of freight railroad track currently in operation in the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 7) and last quarter moon (May 14).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 130th day of 2020 and the 52nd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first presidential proclamation calling for a national Mother's Day holiday.

In 1974, the U.S. House of Representatives opened impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

In 2001, 126 soccer fans died in a stampede at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Brown (1800-1859), abolitionist; J.M. Barrie (1860-1937), author/playwright; Howard Carter (1874-1939), archaeologist; Mike Wallace (1918-2012), journalist; James L. Brooks (1940- ), director/producer; Candice Bergen (1946- ), actress; Billy Joel (1949- ), singer-songwriter/pianist; Tony Gwynn (1960-2014), baseball player; Rosario Dawson (1979- ), actress; Prince Fielder (1984- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: When Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton Minow described network TV programming as a "vast wasteland" during a speech on this day in 1961, the top-rated shows in the United States were "Gunsmoke," "Wagon Train" and "Have Gun Will Travel."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, the Chicago White Sox finally defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in a 25-inning game that had been suspended from the day before. It was the longest timed game in Major League Baseball history to date, at 8 hours and 6 minutes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." -- J.M. Barrie, "The Little Minister"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 -- current member nations in the European Union. Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are candidates for membership.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 7) and last quarter moon (May 14).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 129th day of 2020 and the 51st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1877, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held in New York City.

In 1902, Mount Pelee erupted on the island of Martinique, destroying the city of Saint-Pierre and killing an estimated 30,000 people.

In 1945, Victory in Europe Day (or V-E Day) was celebrated as the Allies accepted Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe.

In 1973, a 10-week standoff in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists ended.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd U.S. president; David Attenborough (1926- ), TV personality/environmentalist; Don Rickles (1926-2017), comedian/actor; Thomas Pynchon (1937- ), author; Ricky Nelson (1940-1985), singer-songwriter; Toni Tennille (1940- ), singer-songwriter; Mike D'Antoni (1951- ), basketball coach; Bill Cowher (1957- ), football coach/analyst; Lovie Smith (1958- ), football coach; Enrique Iglesias (1975- ), singer-songwriter; Adrian Gonzalez (1982- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Pharmacist John Pemberton sold the first Coca-Cola soft drink on this day in 1886.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers to ascend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "No nation on this globe should be more internationally minded than America because it was built by all nations." -- Harry Truman

TODAY'S NUMBER: 418,500 -- total U.S. military and civilian deaths in World War II, according to the National WWII Museum.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (May 7) and last quarter moon (May 14).