TODAY’S HISTORY

1806: Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their return trip east after reaching the Pacific coast.

1956: Pakistan became the first Islamic republic. 1983: President Ronald Reagan proposed the “Star Wars” plan for the development of missile-intercepting technology.

2010: President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

TODAY’S

BIRTHDAYS: Joan Crawford (19041977), actress; Akira Kurosawa (19101998), filmmaker; Roger Bannister (1929-2018), athlete/physician; Ric Ocasek (1949-2019), singer-songwriter; Ron Jaworski (1951-), sportscaster; Chaka Khan (1953-), singer-songwriter; Kenneth Cole (1954-), fashion designer; Moses Malone (1955-2015), basketball player; Catherine Keener (1959-), actress; Michelle Monaghan (1976-), actress; Keri Russell (1976-), actress; Kyrie Irving (1992-), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT: The Russian space station Mir was pulled out of orbit on this day in 2001. Although it re-entered the atmosphere over Fiji, most of the debris burned up during the descent.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1994, Wayne Gretzky of the NHL’S Los Angeles Kings scored the 802nd goal of his career, breaking the record then held by Gordie Howe.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “My game is hard work and pride. On the all hard-work team, I’d pick myself five times.” — Moses Malone

TODAY’S NUMBER: 12 — number of interviews by British journalist David Frost with former President Richard

Nixon over the Watergate scandal. The first of these was videotaped on this day in 1977.