5 Things You Need to Know Today: June 24

Our weekday morning column, 5 Things You Need to Know, provides you with information that can help you plan your day and give you some fodder for water cooler conversations.

1. Take the plunge. Today is Swim a Lap Day, which means it's all about enjoying a great summer pasttime—the pool. So if you know someone who has a pool or are a member at a local pool, take a dip. And if you're like most of us without a pool, take a dip in your bath tub and swim a lap there.

2. An artist unveiled. On this day in 1901, Pablo Picasso holds his first art show in France. He was 20.

3. An anchor accused of being glib. On this day in 2005, in a live interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, he criticized Brooke Shields' outward acceptance of antidepressant drugs to treat her post-partum depression. Cruise, a Scientologist, did not believe in psychotherapy of any kind and said he cared for Shields and was concerned. Shields wrote a Letter to the Editor in the New York Times highlighting her history of postpartum depression in the hopes of educating many as she had just written a book on the subject.

4. A bird, a plane, no, flying saucers. Ever wonder where the term came from? On this day in 1947, an airplane pilot saw what he called saucers in the sky and then the term took off to be called UFOs flying saucers.

5. Did the government lie? You be the judge because on this day in 1997, 50 years after the "Roswell" sighting of aliens and flying saucers, the government said the aliens were dummies parachuting to the earth and the flying saucers were hot air balloons. Many still travel to Roswell, NM, in search of alien life forms. But that also begs the question—what is in Area 51?

CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, Tom Cruise's glib comment was in 2005.