Today in history

Today (Wednesday, Aug. 24) is the 237th day of 2016 and the 66th day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1814, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House.

In 1949, President Harry Truman formally announced that the North Atlantic Treaty was in effect.

In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York for the murder of John Lennon.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union announced a new definition for “planet,” which reclassified Pluto as a “dwarf planet.”

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), author; Paulo Coelho (1947- ), author; Mike Shanahan (1952- ), football coach; Mike Huckabee (1955- ), politician/TV personality; Stephen Fry (1957- ), actor/comedian; Cal Ripken Jr. (1960- ), baseball player; Jared Harris (1961- ), actor; Marlee Matlin (1965- ), actress; Reggie Miller (1965- ), basketball player; Dan Henderson (1970- ), mixed martial artist; Dave Chappelle (1973- ), actor/comedian; Arian Foster (1986- ), football player; Rupert Grint (1988- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: In 1891, Thomas Edison received a patent for his Kinetograph motion picture camera and the Kinetoscope viewer.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1989, baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from the sport for gambling on Major League Baseball games.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” -- Paulo Coelho

TODAY’S NUMBER: 5 -- dwarf planets in our solar system currently recognized by the International Astronomical Union: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.

TODAY’S MOON: Last quarter (Aug. 24).