ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 227th day of 2025 and the 57th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1483, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel was consecrated.

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened.

In 1947, India and Pakistan won independence from Britain.

In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon canceled the direct convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold.

In 2021, the Taliban regained control of Kabul, Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French emperor; Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet/novelist; Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959), actress; Edna Ferber (1885-1968), author; Julia Child (1912-2004), cookbook author/TV personality; Stephen Breyer (1938- ), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), journalist/author; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (1963- ), filmmaker; Debra Messing (1968- ), actress; Ben Affleck (1972- ), actor/filmmaker; Carl Edwards (1979- ), race car driver; Jennifer Lawrence (1990- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The price of gold skyrocketed from $35 per ounce in 1971 to $850 per ounce in 1980 as a result of the economic measures undertaken by President Nixon in 1971.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the third women's golf U.S. Open.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I didn't have a normal academic career. I never studied cinema. I learned from life." -- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

TODAY'S NUMBER: 450,000 -- estimated number of concertgoers who attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair when it opened near Bethel, New York, on this day in 1969.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Aug. 15).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 226th day of 2025 and the 56th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, guaranteeing income for retirees and the unemployed.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced Japan's unconditional surrender and the end of World War II.

In 2003, 50 million people in the northeastern United States and Ontario, Canada, lost power in one of the largest blackouts in history.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Doc Holliday (1851-1887), gambler; David Crosby (1941-2023), singer-songwriter; Steve Martin (1945- ), actor/writer/musician; Danielle Steel (1947- ), novelist; Gary Larson (1950- ), cartoonist; James Horner (1953-2015), composer; Rusty Wallace (1956- ), race car driver; Earvin "Magic" Johnson (1959- ), basketball player/businessman; Halle Berry (1966- ), actress; Mila Kunis (1983- ), actress; Tim Tebow (1987- ), athlete/sportscaster.

TODAY'S FACT: The New York Times reported in 1945 that an estimated 2 million people flooded New York City's Times Square following the announcement of the Japanese surrender in World War II.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2007, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected from his 132nd major league game, passing the record previously set by John McGraw. Cox retired in 2010 with 158 regular season and three postseason ejections in his career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't." -- Steve Martin

TODAY'S NUMBER: $47.5 million -- price paid by pop legend Michael Jackson when he purchased the company that owned the publishing rights to the majority of the Beatles' catalog (251 compositions) on this day in 1985.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 9) and last quarter moon (Aug. 15).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 225th day of 2025 and the 55th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1521, Hernando Cortes captured the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan (later Mexico City), after a three-month siege.

In 1907, the first metered taxicab took fares in New York City.

In 1918, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1961, East German soldiers began constructing a barbed-wire barrier between the eastern and western parts of Berlin.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter; Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), film director; Ben Hogan (1912-1997), golfer; Fidel Castro (1926-2016), Cuban president; Don Ho (1930-2007), singer; Philippe Petit (1949- ), tightrope walker; Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007), singer-songwriter; Paul Greengrass (1955- ), film director; John Slattery (1962- ), actor; Valerie Plame (1963- ), CIA agent/author; Shani Davis (1982- ), Olympic speedskater; Sebastian Stan (1982- ), actor; Devin and Jason McCourty (1987- ), football players.

TODAY'S FACT: Alfred Hitchcock never won an Academy Award for directing. When he was honored with the Academy’s Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968, his speech was five words long: "Thank you, very much indeed."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige pitched his first complete game at age 42.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I think the moments that are difficult for anybody are when you see what your life could be, if only you had the courage to take the steps needed." –- John Slattery

TODAY'S NUMBER: 305 -- women who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (women were allowed to enlist for office, clerical and secretarial duties) in 1918.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Aug. 9) and last quarter moon (Aug. 15).