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).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 224th day of 2025 and the 54th day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1898, Spain agreed to peace protocols with the United States, bringing an end to the Spanish-American War.

In 1953, the USSR detonated the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.

In 2017, one person was killed and several others injured when a car was driven into a crowd of counterprotesters during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), author/songwriter; Christy Mathewson (1880-1925), baseball player; Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), film director/producer; Cantinflas (1911-1993), actor/filmmaker; William Goldman (1931-2018), author/screenwriter; George Hamilton (1939- ), actor; Ann Martin (1955- ), author; Bruce Greenwood (1956- ), actor; Peter Krause (1965- ), actor; Michael Ian Black (1971- ), actor; Pete Sampras (1971- ), tennis player; Casey Affleck (1975- ), actor; Tyson Fury (1988- ), boxer; LaKeith Stanfield (1991- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: "Sue," one of the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found, was discovered in South Dakota on this day in 1990. The skeleton is now displayed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1994, Major League Baseball players began a 232-day strike that resulted in the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I'll tell you the truth and it's up to you to live with it." -- William Goldman, "The Princess Bride"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16,000 -- bytes (16 kilobytes) of memory available on the IBM PC first available for purchase on this day in 1981. The base system retailed for $1,565.

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

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 223rd day of 2025 and the 53rd day of summer.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1934, the first federal prisoners were incarcerated at the Alcatraz Island prison in San Francisco Bay.

In 1965, rioting began in the Watts district of Los Angeles.

In 1972, the last U.S. ground combat unit left South Vietnam.

In 2003, NATO took over command of peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: David Atchison (1807-1886), legislator; Enid Blyton (1897-1968), children's author; Alex Haley (1921-1992), historian/author; Arlene Dahl (1925-2021), actress; Steve Wozniak (1950- ), Apple co-founder; Hulk Hogan (1953-2025), wrestler/actor; David Brooks (1961- ), journalist; Viola Davis (1965- ), actress; Joe Rogan (1967- ), comedian/podcast host; Anna Gunn (1968- ), actress; Chris Hemsworth (1983- ), actor; Pablo Sandoval (1986- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The Mall of America, which opened in Bloomington, Minnesota, on this day in 1992, cost $650 million to build and generates more than $50 million in taxes for the state each year.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Carl Lewis replicated Jesse Owens' 1936 performance at the Summer Olympics by winning his fourth and final gold medal, all in the same track events Owens had won nearly 50 years earlier.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." -- Alex Haley

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,545 -- federal prisoners interned at Alcatraz during its 29-year use as a prison.

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