Today in history

Today is the 178th day of 2018 and the seventh day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1829, British chemist James Smithson died, leaving an endowment for “the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

In 1844, Mormon religion founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by an anti-Mormon mob at the jail where they were being held in Carthage, Illinois.

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman sent the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to fight in the Korean War.

In 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decertified Route 66.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Emma Goldman (1869-1940), labor leader; Helen Keller (18801968), activist/author; H. Ross Perot (1930- ), businessman/ politician; Vera Wang (1949- ), fashion designer; J.J. Abrams (1966- ), TV/film producer; Tobey Maguire (1975- ), actor; Drake Bell (1986- ), actor; Ed Westwick (1987- ), actor; Chandler Riggs (1999- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams flew 39 combat missions during the Korean War. Williams sat out nearly five Major League Baseball seasons due to his military service in World War II and Korea.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2001, the Washington Wizards drafted 19-year-old center Kwame Brown, marking the first time a high school student was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “We differ, blind and seeing, one from another, not in our senses, but in the use we make of them, in the imagination and courage with which we seek wisdom beyond the senses.” -- Helen Keller, “The Five-Sensed World”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 30 million -- visitors to Smithsonian Institution museums in 2017.

TODAY’S MOON: Full moon (June 27).