ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 131st day of 2021 and the 53rd day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.

In 1894, the Pullman Strike began, involving more than 3,000 Chicago railroad car plant workers.

In 1987, the first heart-lung transplant was performed in Baltimore.

In 1997, the IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov with two wins, one loss and three draws in a six-game match.

In 1998, the first euro coins were minted in France.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer; Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972), actress; Martha Graham (1894-1991), dancer/choreographer; Salvador Dali (1904-1989), painter; Mike Lupica (1952- ), sportswriter; John Clayton (1954- ), sportswriter; Natasha Richardson (1963-2009), actress; Tim Blake Nelson (1964- ), actor; Cory Monteith (1982-2013), actor; Cam Newton (1989- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The 2-euro coin is the highest-valued euro coin, and it is the only one with writing on its edge. Each country has its own design for the edge writing on its 2-euro coin.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, a blizzard on Mount Everest led to the deaths of eight people during summit attempts. The event was depicted in the 2015 film "Everest."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." -- Salvador Dali

TODAY'S NUMBER: 150,000 -- members of the American Railway Union who became involved in the Pullman Strike of 1894 as it spread across the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (May 11).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 130th day of 2021 and the 52nd 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: "To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater." -- Bono

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 3) and new moon (May 11).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 129th day of 2021 and the 51st 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: "Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it." -- J.M. Barrie, "Peter Pan"

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (May 3) and new moon (May 11).