World Almanac

Today is the 202nd day of 2021 and the 32nd day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1861, the first Battle of Bull Run — the first major battle of the Civil War — was fought in Virginia, ending in a Confederate victory.

In 1925, Tennessee teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating the state’s law against teaching the theory of evo- lution.

In 1954, the French surrendered North Vietnam to Communist forces.

In 2011, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program came to an end as the shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), author; Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), author/theorist; Isaac Stern (1920-2001), violinist; Don Knotts (1924-2006), actor/comedian; Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (1948- ), singer/songwriter; Garry Trudeau (1948- ), cartoonist; Robin Williams (1951-2014), actor/comedian; Brandi Chastain (1968- ), soccer player; Josh Hartnett (1978- ), actor; CC Sabathia (1980- ), baseball player; Juno Temple (1989- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Turkish adventurer Erden Eruc complet- ed the first solo, human-powered global circumnavigation on this day in 2012, after traveling 41,196 miles in 1,026 days by rowboat, kayak, bicycle, canoe and on foot.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1959, the Boston Red Sox (the last major league team to integrate) fielded their first African American player when Pumpsie Green entered a game against the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” — Ernest HemingwayTODAY’S NUMBER: -128.6 — temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on this day in 1983, the lowest temperature recorded at an inhabited location in world history.
TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (July 17) and full moon (July 23).