Today in history

Today is the 185th day of 2018 and the 14th day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

In 1826, founding fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1960, the modern version of the American flag (with 50 stars) debuted at a ceremony in Philadelphia.

In 1997, NASA’s Pathfinder space probe landed on Mars.

In 2012, the discovery of Higgs boson-like particles through experiments at the Large Hadron Collider was announced at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: George Everest (1790-1866), surveyor/geographer; Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), writer; Stephen Foster (18261864), songwriter; Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th U.S. president; Eva Marie Saint (1924), actress; Neil Simon (1927- ), playwright; Al Davis (1929-2011), Oakland Raiders owner; George Steinbrenner (1930-2010), New York Yankees owner; Geraldo Rivera (1943- ), TV personality.

TODAY’S FACT: Renowned advice columnists Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips, known as Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (“Dear Abby”) respectively, were twin sisters, born on this day in 1918.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1939, New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig, who was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, announced his retirement at Yankee Stadium, delivering the famous line, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,000 -- approximate number of “Gorilla Sign Language” signs in the working vocabulary of Koko, a female lowland gorilla born on this day in 1971.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (June 27) and last quarter moon (July 6).