FRIDAY,

JULY 30, 2021

Today is the 211th day of 2021 and the 41st day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1619, America’s first legislative assembly met in Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a resolution establishing “In God We Trust” as the national motto of the United States.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon released subpoenaed White House recordings related to the Watergate cover-up.

In 1975, former Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from suburban Detroit.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Emily Bronte (1818-1848), author/poet; Henry Ford (1863-1947), industrialist/ automaker; Casey Stengel (1890-1975), baseball player/manager; Bud Selig (1934- ), baseball commissioner; Paul Anka (1941- ), singer-songwriter; Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947- ), actor/former governor; Laurence Fishburne (1961- ), actor; Lisa Kudrow (1963- ), actress; Vivica A. Fox (1964- ), actress; Terry Crews (1968- ), actor; Christopher Nolan (1970- ), filmmaker; Hilary Swank (1974- ), actress; Hope Solo (1981- ), soccer player.

TODAY’S FACT: “Top of the Pops,” the longest-running radio show in history at 42 years, was broadcast for the final time on BBC Two on this day in 2006.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1930, the Uruguayan national football team defeated Argentina to win the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “The comedy of it is that if we hadn’t been starving, I would never have tried acting at all. That’s why I always say our struggle makes us who we are.” -- Terry Crews, “Manhood: How To Be a Better Man or Just Live With One”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 13,503 -- population of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States Census of 1790; the population was estimated at 575,584 in 2020. The city was founded on this day in 1729.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (July 23) and last quarter moon (July 31).

SATURDAY,

JULY 31, 2021

Today is the 212th day of 2021 and the 42nd day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1914, trading on the New York Stock Exchange stopped in response to the outbreak of World War I. It did not resume until December of that year.

In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted the first close-up photographs of the moon.

In 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the START 1 treaty, an agreement to reduce both countries’ nuclear arms stockpiles.

In 2006, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro underwent surgery and transferred presidential power to his brother Raul.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Milton Friedman (1912- 2006), economist; Primo Levi (1919-1987), chemist/author; Geoffrey Lewis (1935-2015), actor; Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1951- ), tennis player; Michael Biehn (1956- ), actor; Mark Cuban (1958- ), Dallas Mavericks owner; Wesley Snipes (1962- ), actor; J.K. Rowling (1965- ), author; Zac Brown (1978- ), musician; B.J. Novak (1979- ), actor; DeMarcus Ware (1982- ), football player; Charlie Carver (1988- ), actor; A.J. Green (1988- ), football player.

TODAY’S FACT: The first U.S. patent was issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins on this day in 1790, for a process of making potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2012, American swimmer Michael Phelps broke Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina’s long-standing career Olympic medal record, winning his 19th medal with a victory in the 4-x-200 relay.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “For a country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.” -- Primo Levi, “If This Is a Man”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 11 million -- estimated population of Cuba in 2021.

TODAY’S MOON: Last quarter moon (July 31).