Today is the 130th day of 2008 and the 51st day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his proposal for European integration, called the "Schuman Declaration." In 1961, Newton Minow, newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, gave a speech to broadcasters in which he described network TV as a "vast wasteland." In 1974, the U.S. House of Representatives opened impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. In 2001, during a soccer game in Ghana, 126 people died in a stampede caused by an encounter between fans and police.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: J.M. Barrie (1860-1937), playwright; Howard Carter (1874-1939), archaeologist; Mike Wallace (1918- ), journalist, is 90; Candice Bergen (1946- ), actress, is 62; Billy Joel (1949- ), musician, is 59; Tony Gwynn (1960- ), baseball player, is 48; Rosario Dawson (1979- ), actress, is 29.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, the White Sox finally won a 25-inning game that had been suspended from the day before. It was the longest timed game in Major League Baseball history, at 8 hours and 6 minutes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Ambition--it is the last infirmity of noble minds." J.M. Barrie [or "I'm not young enough to know everything." JM Barrie from The Admirable Crichton]

TODAY'S FACT: Mike Wallace has been a mainstay of the TV news program 60 Minutes since its start in 1968. He announced his retirement in March 2006 but has continued work on the show as a "Correspondent Emeritus."

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 - number of member-nations in the European Union, a descendant of the Schuman Declaration; Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 5) and first quarter (May 11).

Today is the 129th day of 2008 and the 50th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1886, prohibition in Atlanta, GA spurred the sale of the first "Coca-Cola" soft drink. In 1945, the Allies celebrated World War II V-E (Victory in Europe) day. In 1973, a 10-week standoff in Wounded Knee, SD, between federal authorities and American Indian Movement activists ended. In 1999, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, graduated its first female student.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), U.S. president; Don Rickles (1926- ), comedian/actor, is 82; Sonny Liston (1932-1970), boxer; Thomas Pynchon (1937- ), novelist, is 71; Keith Jarrette (1945- ), jazz musician, is 63; Enrique Iglesias (1975- ), singer, is 33.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, the Soviet Union announced that it would boycott that year's Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." - Harry S. Truman

TODAY'S FACT: The U.S. captured 173 medals--including a record 83 gold medals--at the Soviet-boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14 - women in The Citadel's 2007 graduating class, out of 436 cadets.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 5) and first quarter (May 11).

Today is the 128th day of 2008 and the 49th day of spring.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1915, during World War I, a German U-Boat sunk the RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198. In 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered and withdrew from World War II. In 2000, Vladimir Putin assumed the presidency in Russia's first democratic change of office.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), composer; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), composer; Gary Cooper (1901-1961), actor; Eva Peron (1919-1952), Argentine first lady/actress; Johnny Unitas (1933-2002), football player; Tim Russert (1950- ), journalist, is 58; Breckin Meyer (1974- ), actor, is 34.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1925, Glenn Wright of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the fourth player in history to turn an unassisted triple play.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "In Westerns you were permitted to kiss your horse but never your girl." - Gary Cooper

TODAY'S FACT: After being cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955, Johnny Unitas played a year of semi-pro ball with the Bloomfield Rams, and was paid $6 a game plus daily trolley fare.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7 - number of symphonies composed by Tchaikovsky.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (May 5) and first quarter (May 11).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States. In 1803, representatives of the United States and France concluded negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase. In 1945, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide as Allied troops approached his bunker in Berlin, Germany. In 2003, Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian Prime Minister.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eve Arden (1908-1990), actress; Sheldon Harnick (1924- ), lyricist, is 84; Cloris Leachman (1926- ), actress, is 82; Willie Nelson (1933- ), singer, is 75; Isiah Thomas (1961- ), basketball player, is 47; Kirsten Dunst (1982- ), actress, is 26.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1993, a deranged fan ran stabbed tennis star Monica Seles at a tournament match in Hamburg, Germany.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, [is] sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications..." - George Washington, in his inaugural address

TODAY'S FACT: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun married on April 29, 1945, one day before their joint suicide.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 827,192 - number of square miles that the U.S. took possession of in the Louisiana Purchase, at a cost of less than three cents per acre.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (April 28) and new moon (May 5).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1429, Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orleans, France. In 1992, riots broke out in Los Angeles after four police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King. In 2004, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met with the September 11 Commission in closed hearings.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), orchestra conductor; Duke Ellington (1899-1974), jazz musician; Jerry Seinfeld (1955- ), comedian, is 53; Daniel Day-Lewis (1957- ), actor, is 51; Michelle Pfeiffer (1958- ), actress, is 50; Andre Agassi (1970- ), tennis player, is 38.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1986, Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens became the first to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, a feat he repeated in 1996.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The thing about performance, even if it's only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities." - Daniel Day-Lewis

TODAY'S FACT: Duke Ellington's father worked as a butler at a number of homes in Washington, DC, including the White House.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 19 - age of Joan of Arc at the time of her death.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (April 28) and new moon (May 5).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, a mutiny broke out on the British trade ship Bounty. In 1945, Italian partisans executed dictator Benito Mussolini. In 2004, the first Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos were shown on CBS's 60 Minutes II.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James Monroe (1758-1831), U.S. president; Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), actor; Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), businessman; Harper Lee (1926- ), author, is 82; Ann-Margret (1941- ), singer/actress, is 67; Jay Leno (1950- ), TV personality, is 58; Penelope Cruz, (1974- ), actress, is 34.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue." - James Monroe

TODAY'S FACT: After the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty, the captain and 18 crewmembers were cast out on a 23-foot launch boat in which they safely traveled an astounding 3,618 miles to Timor.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 40 - The number of languages in which Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird is available.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter (April 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt created the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1985, Coca-Cola introduced "New Coke," a product that fizzled with consumers quickly. In 2004, President George W. Bush eased economic sanctions against Libya--in place since the Reagan administration--in response to Libya's giving up its weapons of mass destruction program.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), playwright; Max Planck (1858-1947), physicist; Vladimir Nabokov, novelist, (1899-1977); Shirley Temple Black (1928- ), actress/diplomat, is 80; Lee Majors (1940- ), actor, is 68; Sandra Dee (1942-2005), actress; Michael Moore (1954- ), filmmaker, is 54; Andruw Jones (1977- ), baseball player, is 31.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, St. Louis Cardinal Fernando Tatis became the first baseball player to hit two grand slam home runs in one inning.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts." - William Shakespeare, As You Like It

TODAY'S FACT: Novelist Vladimir Nabokov was also known internationally as a lepidopterist (a scientist who studies moths and butterflies).

TODAY'S NUMBER: 77 - days that New Coke was on the market before Coca-Cola pulled it from shelves and replaced it with the soft drink's original formula, under the name Classic Coke.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 20) and last quarter (April 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1500, Pedro Cabral became the first European to see modern-day Brazil. In 1889, Oklahoma was opened to settlers, who swarmed the state in a great land rush. In 1954, the first of the U.S. Senate's Army-McCarthy hearings were broadcast. In 1993, the U.S. Holocaust Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC. In 2000, immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' house in Miami in order to return him to his father in Cuba.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry Fielding (1707-54), novelist; Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), philosopher; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924), Soviet leader; J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67), physicist; Charles Mingus (1922-79), jazz musician; Jack Nicholson (1936- ), actor, is 72; John Waters (1946- ), filmmaker, is 62; Peter Frampton (1950- ), rock musician, is 58.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1914, Babe Ruth, then a Baltimore pitcher, appeared in his first professional baseball game, shutting out Providence, 6-0.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "All our knowledge begins with the sense, proceeds then to understanding, and ends with reason. " - Immanuel Kant

TODAY'S FACT: The Army-McCarthy hearings were the first nationally televised congressional inquiry.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 69,898 - area (in square miles) of the state of Oklahoma.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 20) and last quarter (April 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Texas forces under Sam Houston defeated Mexicans at the Battle of San Jacinto. In 1918, Germany's "Red Baron," fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richtofen, was shot down and killed. In 1960, the new city of Brasilia officially became Brazil's capital. In 1992, murderer Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charlotte Bronte (1816-55), novelist/poet; John Muir (1838-1914), naturalist/environmentalist; Anthony Quinn (1915-2001), actor; Elizabeth II (1926- ), British monarch, is 82; Elaine May (1932- ), actress/writer, is 76; Patti LuPone (1949- ), actress/singer, is 59; Tony Danza (1951- ), actor, is 57; James McAvoy (1979- ), actor, is 29.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, Lee Elder became the first African American to be invited to the PGA Masters Tournament.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women." - Queen Elizabeth II

TODAY'S FACT: Brasilia was put on the UN's World Heritage List in 1987 in recognition of its innovative urban planning and design.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 54 - number of years Queen Elizabeth II has ruled Great Britain, ten less than Queen Victoria, Britain's longest-ruling monarch.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 20) and last quarter (April 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride, warning, "The British are coming!" In 1906, the great San Francisco earthquake struck. In 1942, U.S. planes, led by Gen. James Doolittle, bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities. In 2002, Exiled Afghan King Mohammad Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franz von Suppé (1819-95), composer; Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), lawyer; Wendy Barrie (1912-78), actress; Joseph Goldstein (1940- ), geneticist, is 68; Hayley Mills (1946- ), actress, is 62; James Woods (1947- ), actor, is 61; Conan O'Brien (1963- ), TV personality, is 45; America Ferrera (1984- ), actress, is 24.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1923, Yankee Stadium, known as the "House That Ruth Built," opened in the Bronx with a crowd of 74,200 people. Babe Ruth hit the stadium's first home run in the third inning.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free." - Clarence Darrow

TODAY'S FACT: Paul Revere did not complete his ride from Boston to Concord; one of the two men who accompanied him reached Concord to deliver the message after Revere was detained by scouts.

TODAY'S NUMBER: $400,000,000 - estimated property damage (in 1906 dollars) as a result of the San Francisco earthquake and fire.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (April 12) and full moon (April 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1524, Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano, sailing for France, led the first European expedition into New York Harbor. In 1861, Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union. In 1961, a group of CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. In 1993, a Los Angeles jury convicted two police officers of violating the civil rights of assaulted motorist Rodney King.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), Soviet political leader; Senor Wences (1896-1999), ventriloquist; Thornton Wilder, playwright/novelist (1897-1975); William Holden (1918-81), actor; Boomer Esiason (1961- ), football player/broadcaster, is 47; Jennifer Garner (1972- ), actress, is 36.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1953, 21-year-old Mickey Mantle hit a 565-foot homer over the wall of Griffith Stadium in Washington, the first "tape-measure" home run in baseball history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous." - Thornton Wilder

TODAY'S FACT: More Civil War battles were fought in Virginia than any other state.

TODAY'S NUMBER: -272 - temperature, in degrees Celsius, of the Boomerang Nebula, the coldest known place in the universe.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (April 12) and full moon (April 20)

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1777, American forces defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington in Vermont. In 1917, Vladimir I. Lenin returned to Russia in a sealed train after years in exile. In 1947, the French vessel Grandcamp blew up in the harbor of Texas City, TX, killing at least 500 people. In 2007, a senior at Virginia Tech shot 27 students and 5 faculty members to death on the campus in Blacksburg, VA.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anatole France (1844-1924), writer; Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), actor/director/composer; Peter Ustinov (1921-2004), actor; Pope Benedict XVI (1927- ), Roman Catholic leader, is 81; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947- ), basketball player, is 61; Bill Belichick (1952- ), football coach, is 56; Ellen Barkin (1955- ), actress, is 53; Peter Billingsley (1971- ), actor, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from professional hockey.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." - Anatole France

TODAY'S FACT: Charlie Chaplin refused to use dialogue in his movies until The Great Dictator in 1940, 13 years after the first "talkie."

TODAY'S NUMBER: 20 - number of professional seasons Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in the NBA before announcing his retirement.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (April 12) and full moon (April 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. In 1924, Rand McNally published its first road atlas. In 1959, the new Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, visited the United States. In 1999, astronomers announced the discovery of another solar system--the first aside from our own--in the constellation Andromeda.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), artist/scientist; Henry James (1843-1916), novelist; A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979), activist; Bessie Smith (1894-1937), blues singer; Emma Thompson (1959- ), actress, is 49; Emma Watson (1990- ), actress, is 18.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1942, Hiram Bithorn became the first Puerto Rican to play Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action." - Fidel Castro

TODAY'S FACT: Titanic is the highest-grossing American movie of all time, having made more than $600 million at the box office.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 24 - number of hours after Germany's 1939 invasion of Poland that U.S. stores were completely sold out of Rand McNally maps of Europe.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (April 12) and full moon (April 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot and fatally wounded President Abraham Lincoln. In 1939, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published. In 1986, the U.S. launched air strikes against Libya. In 2002, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regained power after a military coup overthrew him two days earlier.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Anne Sullivan Macy (1866-1936), educator; John Gielgud (1904-2000), actor; Rod Steiger (1925-2002), actor; Loretta Lynn (1935- ), singer, is 73; Julie Christie (1940- ), actress, is 68; Pete Rose (1941- ), baseball player, is 67; Greg Maddux (1966- ), baseball player, is 42; Adrien Brody (1973- ), actor, is 35; Abigail Breslin (1996- ), actress, is 12.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche became the first NHL goalie to win 150 playoff games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Doctors tell me I have the body of a thirty year old. I know I have the brain of a fifteen year old. If you've got both, you can play baseball." - Pete Rose

TODAY'S FACT: The lowest point on earth is called Challenger Deep, located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean—nearly 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) below sea level.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 7:22 a.m. - time of Abraham Lincoln's death, the day after he was shot.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (April 12) and full moon (April 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1933, the U.S. government created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to put unemployed young men to work. In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria. In 1972, famed film comedian and director Charlie Chaplin received an honorary Oscar. In 2003, Congress approved the Amber Alert system, which alerts the public to child abductions.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Hazlitt (1778-1830), writer; Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher; Max von Sydow (1929- ), actor, is 79; Omar Sharif (1932- ), actor, is 76; John Madden (1936- ), football coach/broadcaster, is 72; Steven Seagal (1951- ), actor, is 57; Haley Joel Osment (1988- ), actor, is 20.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers announced the purchase of Jackie Robinson's contract from the Montreal Royals.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself." - Joseph Pulitzer

TODAY'S FACT: Residents of the small European country of Andorra enjoy the longest life expectancy in the world, at an average of 83.5 years.

TODAY'S NUMBER: .349 - Jackie Robinson's batting average in his last year with the Montreal Royals.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 5) and first quarter (April 12).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. In 1940, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark. In 2003, Iraqis celebrating the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime tore down and beheaded the Hussein statue in downtown Baghdad.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Baudelaire (1821-67), poet; Paul Robeson (1898-1976), athlete/actor/singer; Hugh Hefner (1926- ), publisher, is 82; Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933- ), actor, is 75; Dennis Quaid (1954- ), actor, is 54; Cynthia Nixon (1966- ), actress, is 42.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1965, the Houston Astros defeated the NY Yankees 2-1 in an exposition game--the first professional baseball game ever played indoors--at the Astrodome.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself." - Charles Baudelaire

TODAY'S FACT: The Astrodome originally had a natural grass field; 'Astroturf' was installed only after the grass died due to a new coat of paint on the ceiling aimed at making pop flies more visible.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 15 - number of varsity letters that Paul Robeson received at Rutgers University for playing baseball, football, basketball, and track.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 5) and first quarter (April 12).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon declared Florida a territory of Spain. In 1935, Congress approved legislation creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 2005, Pope John Paul II was buried at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Harvey Cushing (1869-1939), surgeon; Mary Pickford (1893-1979), actress; Sonja Henie (1912-69), ice skater; Betty Ford (1918- ), former first lady, is 90; Shecky Greene (1926- ), comedian, is 82; Kofi Annan (1938- ), former UN Secretary General, is 70; Robin Wright Penn (1966- ), actress, is 42.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record for career home runs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: Make them laugh, make them cry, and back to laughter. What do people go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise." - Mary Pickford

TODAY'S FACT: Florida did not become a U.S. possession until Spain surrendered it in a treaty in 1819.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 10 - number of languages used at least once during Pope John Paul II's funeral mass.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 5) and first quarter (April 12).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1712, a slave rebellion broke out in New York City. In 1862, Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh. In 1994, a civil war ignited in Rwanda; millions were displaced and hundreds of thousands were killed in the next several months.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Wordsworth (1770-1850), poet; Billie Holiday (1915-59), jazz singer; Francis Ford Coppola (1939- ), filmmaker, is 69; Jackie Chan (1954- ), actor, is 54; Russell Crowe (1964- ), actor, is 44; Tiki Barber (1975), football player, is 33.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1963, at age 23, golfer Jack Nicklaus won the first of his six Masters titles.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The eye--it cannot choose but see; we cannot bid the ear be still; our bodies feel, where'er they be, against or with our will." - William Wordsworth

TODAY'S FACT: Of the 16 million American adults who used online dating sites in 2006, 17% reported to have entered into long-term relationships with fellow online daters.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 800,000 - estimated number of Rwandans killed during the first 100 days of the 1994 genocide.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 5) and first quarter (April 12).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, Jefferson Davis fled Richmond as Union forces closed in on the Confederate capital. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. In 1982, Argentina invaded the British-held Falkland Islands. In 1992, Mafia boss John Gotti was found guilty of murder, racketeering, and other charges by a New York jury.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75), writer; Emile Zola (1840-1902), novelist; Max Ernst (1891-1976), artist; Buddy Ebsen (1908-2003), actor; Emmylou Harris (1947- ), singer, is 61; Christopher Meloni (1961- ), actor, is 47.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1931, Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year old female pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts, struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition match against the Yankees.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale." - Hans Christian Anderson

TODAY'S FACT: Max Ernst created a new painting technique called frottage in which an object is covered with blank paper and rubbed with black chalk, creating a surreal image.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3,105 - number of people who lived in the Falkland Islands in 2007.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (March 29) and new moon (April 5).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, U.S. troops landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. In 1960, TIROS-1, the first weather satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral. In 1987, Pres. Reagan gave his first speech on the AIDS epidemic, declaring the disease "public health enemy number one." In 1999, Nunavut officially separated from the Northwest Territories in Canada. In 2001, ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was arrested and jailed on corruption charges, after a 36-hour standoff with police.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Otto von Bismarck (1815-98), German political leader; Edmond Rostand (1868-1918), playwright; Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943), composer; Milan Kundera (1929- ), writer, is 79; Debbie Reynolds (1932- ), actress, is 76; Ali McGraw (1938- ), actress, is 70; Samuel Alito (1950- ), Supreme Court justice, is 58.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, veteran Boston Celtic John Havlicek scored a career-high 54 points against the Atlanta Hawks, setting a Celtic playoff record.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made." - Otto von Bismarck

TODAY'S FACT: In late 2007, the UN estimated there were 33.2 million people living with AIDS.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 19,389 - number of pictures TIROS-1 sent back to Earth during its 77 days in orbit.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (March 29) and new moon (April 5).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was completed. In 1930, the Motion Pictures Production Code, or Hays Code, was adopted to regulate the moral values of movies. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for reelection. In 2005, Terri Schiavo died 13 days after her feeding tube was removed after a prolonged legal battle.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rene Descartes (1596-1650), philosopher/mathematician; Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), composer; Cesar Chavez (1927-93), labor leader; Herb Alpert (1935- ), musician, is 73; Al Gore (1948- ), former U.S. vice president/senator, is 60; Ewan McGregor (1971- ), actor, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, the Cubs acquired 23-year-old outfielder Sammy Sosa, who would go on to become their All-Star right-fielder.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We Americans write our own history. And the chapters of which we're proudest are the ones where we had the courage to change." - Al Gore

TODAY'S FACT: Gustav Eiffel built metal structures all over the world, but he also designed railway bridges and the interior structure of New York's Statue of Liberty.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,063 - height, in feet, of the Eiffel Tower (including the flagpole).

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (March 29) and new moon (April 5).

As Major League Baseball starts its 2008 season this week there will be many mentions of the song. Mainly, the league is hosting "in-park searches for the most talented performers of the unofficial anthem of baseball fans everywhere." (Enter online: here). There will also be many news articles about Katie Casey and the song's verses, as well as its conflicted history due to the new book Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

To get you in the spirit, Tinfoil.com, an online collection of early recorded sound, has a 1908 rendition of "Take Me Out..." performed by Edward Meeker.

The Library of Congress also has sheet music and other useful information on the song as well as many other baseball songs in their Performing Arts department:

Online Collection of Baseball Sheet Music including "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
Bibliography of Published Baseball Music and Songs

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1794, the United States Navy was formed. In 1964, the largest U.S. earthquake, at a magnitude of 9.2, struck Alaska. In 2002, President Bush signed a sweeping campaign finance reform bill into law.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923), scientist/inventor; Gloria Swanson (1899-1983), actress; Sarah Vaughan (1924-90), singer; Quentin Tarantino (1963- ), filmmaker, is 45; Mariah Carey (1970- ), singer, is 38.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1902, a Chicago Daily News reporter first dubbed the Chicago National League baseball team the Cubs.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." - George Orwell

TODAY'S FACT: Wilhelm Roentgen, the Nobel prize winning discoverer of X-rays, took his first medical x-ray of his wife's hand.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9.5 - magnitude of the largest recorded earthquake, which struck off the coast of Chile on May 22, 1960.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 21) and last quarter (March 29).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1979, Menachem Begin and Anwar al-Sadat signed the Egypt-Israel peace treaty in Washington, DC. In 1997, the bodies of 39 Heaven's Gate cult members were found in California. In 1999, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder for euthanizing a terminally ill patient.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Frost (1874-1963), poet; Tennessee Williams (1911-83), playwright; Viktor Frankl, (1905-97), psychotherapist/author; Sandra Day O'Connor (1930- ), former U.S. Supreme Court justice, is 78; Diana Ross (1944- ), singer, is 64; Steven Tyler (1948- ), musician, is 60; John Stockton (1962- ), basketball player, is 46; Keira Knightley (1985- ), actress, is 23.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, Bill Walton led UCLA's basketball team to its 75th straight win and seventh straight NCAA title.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn." - Robert Frost

TODAY'S FACT: Oregon is the only state in the U.S. with a law permitting physician-assisted suicide in some cases; the law survived an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 130 - estimated number of suicides that Dr. Jack Kevorkian assisted before his arrest in 1999.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 21) and last quarter (March 29).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1634, some 200 English settlers landed at the Maryland colony. In 1894, Coxey's Army, the first notable American protest march, departed Ohio in a revolt against staggering unemployment caused by the economic panic of 1893. In 1965, a civil rights march led by Martin Luther King Jr. ended in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1994, the U.S. withdrew its last troops from Somalia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Bela Bartok (1881-1945), composer; Howard Cosell (1918-94), broadcaster; Jim Lovell (1928- ), astronaut, is 80; Aretha Franklin (1942- ), singer, is 66; Elton John (1947- ), musician, is 61; Sarah Jessica Parker (1965- ), actress, is 43.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1958, Sugar Ray Robinson defeated Carmen Basilio to regain the middleweight title for an unprecedented fifth time.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sports is the toy department of human life." - Howard Cosell

TODAY'S FACT: Women over age 55 watch more television than any other age group in the U.S.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 38.3 million - number of Americans that identified themselves as black in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (March 21) and last quarter (March 29).

Sports Illustrated Vault

To get you started, here are some articles relating to some of the "Memorable Moments in Sports" from The World Almanac 2008:
Secretariat's Record-Breaking Triple Crown: History in the Making (June 18, 1973)
The Band is on the Field: The Week (November 29, 1982)
Strug's One-Legged Vault: Profile in Courage (August 5, 1996) also, Strug profile: Happy Landing (August 11, 1997)
Mike Tyson (vs. Evander Holyfield): Feeding Frenzy (July 7, 1997)

Cover image (July 08, 1974) of Gerald Ford, the undisputed record holder for most NFL contracts declined by a future President.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1960, South African police killed 69 unarmed black protesters. In 1963, the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island closed. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter met with U.S. athletes and coaches to explain his decision to boycott the Moscow Olympic Games. In 1999, Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard and English copilot Brian Jones became the first to circumnavigate the earth nonstop by balloon.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), composer; Benito Juarez (1806- 1872), Mexican president; Florenz Ziegfeld (1867-1932), theater producer; Timothy Dalton (1946- ), actor, is 62; Gary Oldman (1958- ), actor, is 50; Ayrton Senna (1960-94), Formula One racer; Rosie O'Donnell (1962- ), comedienne/actress, is 46; Matthew Broderick (1962- ), actor, is 46; Ronaldinho (1980- ), soccer player, is 28.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1946, UCLA running back Kenny Washington became the NFL's first black player since 1933.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everyone hears only what he understands." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

TODAY'S FACT: Johann Sebastian Bach was not the only member of his family known as a composer; seven generations of Bachs achieved prominence in various musical fields from 1580 to 1800.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14 - The number of escape attempts from Alcatraz recorded over the 29 years that the prison operated; none proved successful.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (March 21).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1922, the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Langley, was commissioned. In 1952, the U.S. Senate ratified a peace treaty returning sovereignty to Japan. In 1995, a Tokyo cult released sarin gas into the subway system, killing 12 and injuring thousands.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: B.F. Skinner (1904-90), psychologist; Sir Michael Redgrave (1908-95), actor; Fred Rogers (1928-2003), TV host; William Hurt (1950- ), actor, is 58; Spike Lee (1957- ), filmmaker, is 51; Holly Hunter (1958- ), actress, is 50.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1948, the National Boxing Federation adopted a 21-point safety program as an attempt to end a string of deaths in the ring.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." - B.F. Skinner

TODAY'S FACT: The Japanese constitution, adopted in 1947, renounces war "forever."

TODAY'S NUMBER: $7 million - amount that Spike Lee's first feature film She's Gotta Have It grossed, far exceeding its $175,000 budget.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (March 14) and full moon (March 21).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1918, the U.S. Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time. In 1931, Nevada legalized most forms of gambling. In 1953, the Academy Awards were broadcast on TV for the first time. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition began bombing Baghdad, marking the beginning of the Iraq War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: David Livingstone (1813-73), physician/explorer; Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), lawman/gunfighter; Earl Warren (1891-1974), U.S. Supreme Court chief justice; Joe Venuti (1894-1978), jazz violinist; Glenn Close (1947- ), actress, is 61; Bruce Willis (1955- ), actor, is 53.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, NBA superstar Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls after almost 2 years of retirement.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Life and liberty can be as much endangered from illegal methods used to convict those thought to be criminals as from the actual criminals themselves." - Earl Warren

TODAY'S FACT: The films Ben-Hur, Titanic, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all share the honor of receiving the most Oscars, at 11 each.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 32,292 - total points Michael Jordan scored in his career, third best in the NBA.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (March 14) and full moon (March 21).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established. In 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state of the U.S. In 1965, Russian cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov made the first spacewalk. In 1990, two men stole 12 paintings valued at $300 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), U.S. President; Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer; George Plimpton (1927-2003), author/actor; Vanessa Williams (1963- ), actress/singer, is 45; Queen Latifah (1970- ), singer/actress, is 38.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1930, the NHL's Boston Bruins won a record 20th consecutive home game, which was tied by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Art has something to do with the arrest of attention in the midst of distraction." - George Plimpton

TODAY'S FACT: Hawaii is the only state with a single, unified school system; it contains 255 regular schools, 3 special schools, and 26 public charter schools.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 26 - number of countries in the NATO alliance after the addition of 7 former-Warsaw Pact nations in March 2004.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (March 14) and full moon (March 21).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Italy--excluding Rome and Venice--was unified under King Victor Emmanuel II. In 1905, Franklin Delano Roosevelt married distant cousin Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1950, Californium, the radioactive 98th element, was created. In 1995, the FDA approved "varivax," the first chicken pox vaccine.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900), engineer/inventor; Bayard Rustin (1910-87), civil rights activist; Nat King Cole (1919-65), singer; Kurt Russell (1951- ), actor, is 47; Rob Lowe (1964- ), actor, is 44; Mia Hamm (1972- ), soccer player, is 36.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1886, The Sporting News published its first issue.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him." - Bayard Rustin

TODAY'S FACT: Gottlieb Daimler is credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 10 - number of elements in the periodic table that were identified before 1 CE.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (March 14) and full moon (March 21).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 44 BCE, Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated. In 1919, the American Legion was formed in Paris. In 1989, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was established. In 2003, Hu Jintao became president of the People's Republic of China.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), U.S. president; Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933- ), U.S. Supreme Court justice, is 75; Judd Hirsch (1935- ), actor, is 73; Sly Stone (1944- ), musician, is 64; Bobby Bonds (1946-2003), baseball player; Eva Longoria (1975- ), actress, is 33.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1962, the NBA's Wilt Chamberlain ended the season with a record scoring average of 50.4 points per game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected." - Julius Caesar

TODAY'S FACT: The Supreme Court chief justice's salary was $4,000 in 1789; in 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts' salary was $212,100.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 million - approximate current membership of the American Legion.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (March 14) and full moon (March 21)

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin. In 1936, the U.S. government began publishing the Federal Register. In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush banned the importation of assault rifles.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: George Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), composer; Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist/Nobel Prize winner; Diane Arbus (1923-1971), photographer; Michael Caine (1933- ), actor, is 75; Billy Crystal (1947- ), actor, is 61; Kirby Puckett (1960-2006), baseball player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, the AFL and NFL held their first common draft of college players.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding." - Diane Arbus

TODAY'S FACT: Albert Einstein was offered the role of president of Israel but declined, saying he was not suited for the position.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 19 - age of defensive tackle Amobi Okoye when drafted by the Houston Texans in 2007, the youngest college player to join the NFL.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter (March 14).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. In 1884, the United States adopted Standard Time. In 1957, Jimmy Hoffa was arrested and charged with bribery.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Percival Lowell (1855-1916), astronomer; Walter Annenberg (1908-2002), publisher/philanthropist; L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), author/Scientologist; Neil Sedaka (1939- ), singer, is 69; William H. Macy (1950- ), actor, is 58.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn called his 2,500th consecutive game; he hadn't missed a broadcast since November 1965.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "He who opens a school, closes a prison." - Victor Hugo

TODAY'S FACT: Standard Time was introduced in the U.S. at the instigation of the railroad companies who needed a set of standard times in order to plan train schedules across the country.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 - number of known moons orbiting the planet Uranus.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 7) and first quarter (March 14).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began a 200-mile march protesting British salt tax. In 1947, President Truman introduced the "Truman Doctrine" aimed at fighting communism. In 2002, the UN Security Council approved a resolution endorsing a Palestinian state.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Elaine de Kooning (1920-89), artist/critic; Jack Kerouac (1922-69), writer; Liza Minnelli (1946- ), actress, is 62; James Taylor (1948- ), singer/songwriter, is 60; Carl Hiaasen (1953- ), author, is 55; Darryl Strawberry (1962- ), baseball player, is 46.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1966, the NHL's Bobby Hull scored his 51st goal, becoming the first player to surpass 50 in a season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion." - Mahatma Gandhi

TODAY'S FACT: Bobby Hull was in his ninth NHL season when he surpassed the 50-goal mark. His son, Brett, did it in his fourth full season.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3 - number of weeks it took Jack Kerouac to write On the Road.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 7) and first quarter (March 14)

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1888, the "Great Blizzard of '88" killed 400 Americans. In 1941, President Roosevelt signed the "Lend-Lease" bill, allowing the U.S. to provide supplies to its allies. In 2004, terrorist bombings of commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killed 191 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lawrence Welk (1903-1992), bandleader; Mercer Ellington (1919-1996), bandleader/composer; Rupert Murdoch (1931- ), media executive, is 77; Antonin Scalia (1936- ), U.S. Supreme Court justice, is 72; Jerry Zucker (1950- ), filmmaker, is 58; Johnny Knoxville (1971- ), actor, is 37; Dan Uggla (1980- ), baseball player, is 28.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, the NHL's Randy Hold was penalized a record 9 times for 67 minutes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is nothing new in the realization that the Constitution sometimes insulates the criminality of a few in order to protect the privacy of us all." - Antonin Scalia

TODAY'S FACT: According to the Forbes 400, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch's wealth increased from $7.7 billion in 2006 to $8.8 billion in 2007, but his rank on the list dropped from 32 to 33.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 44 - number of countries that received the $50 million in funds and military goods made available under the 1941 Lend-Lease bill.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 7) and first quarter (March 14).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1862, the U.S. treasury issued its first paper money. In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies. In 1972, the U.S. Senate approved lowering the minimum voting age to 18.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908), violinist/composer; Albert Fraenkel (1848-1916), physician; Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987), playwright/politician; Chuck Norris (1940- ), actor, is 68; Sharon Stone (1958- ), actress, is 50; Rod Woodson (1965- ), football player, is 43.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, the Boston Bruins acquired veteran Dennis O'Brien on waivers from the Cleveland Barons, making him the first player to be with four different NHL teams in one season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting." - Tom Stoppard

TODAY'S FACT: The first paper money to circulate in the United States was issued in 1690 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 122,295,645 - number of popular votes cast in the 2004 presidential election--the highest eligible-voter turnout since 18 to 20-year-olds were enfranchised.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (March 7) and first quarter (March 14).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, Roald Amundsen publicly announced his successful arrival at the South Pole. In 1936, Adolf Hitler defied the Treaty of Versailles and ordered German soldiers to reoccupy the Rhineland. In 1965, state troopers attacked 600 civil rights protesters on "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Herschel (1792-1871), mathematician/astronomer; Luther Burbank (1849-1926), naturalist; Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), composer; Willard Scott (1934- ), TV personality, is 74; Ivan Lendl (1960- ), tennis player, is 48; Peter Sarsgaard (1971- ), actor, is 37; Rachel Weisz (1971- ), actress, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1996, Magic Johnson became the second player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career assists.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." - Marshall McLuhan

TODAY'S FACT: In addition to being the first to reach the South Pole, Roald Amundsen was also the first to sail the Northwest Passage and the first to complete a Transarctic flight.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 73,674 - estimated number of Americans 100 years old or older in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, the Texas fort known as the Alamo fell to Mexican forces after its last defenders were slain. In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property in the Dred Scott decision. In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off as CBS Evening News anchor for the last time. In 2007, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff for Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), painter/sculptor/architect; Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-55), soldier/writer; Bob Wills (1905-75), singer; Lou Costello (1906-59), actor/comedian; Ed McMahon (1923- ), TV personality, is 85; Alan Greenspan (1926- ), economist, is 82; Gabriel García Márquez (1928- ), novelist, is 80; Kiri Te Kanawa (1944- ), opera singer, is 64; Shaquille O'Neal (1972- ), basketball player, is 36.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1923, Johnny Weissmuller became the first swimmer to break five minutes for 440 yards. Weissmuller finished in 4:57, improving his own world record of 5:08 by 11 seconds.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has." - Michelangelo Buonarroti

TODAY'S FACT: Of the nine justices who decided Dred Scott's fate, seven were appointed by pro-slavery Southern presidents and five came from slaveholding families.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 13 - number of days the Alamo defenders held off Mexican forces.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of rowdy demonstrators, killing five, in the Boston Massacre. In 1946, Winston Churchill mentioned the "Iron Curtain" in a speech often regarded as the beginning of the Cold War. In 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ratified by 43 nations, went into effect.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rex Harrison (1908-90), actor; James Tobin (1918-2002), economist; Felipe González Márquez, (1942- ), former Spanish premier, is 66; Penn Jillette, (1955- ), comedian/magician, is 53; John Frusciante (1971- ), musician, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1993, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson received a lifetime competition ban after testing positive for banned substances a second time.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory... From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." - Winston Churchill

TODAY'S FACT: By 2007, 188 countries were signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. North Korea withdrew in Jan. 2003, joining India, Israel, and Pakistan.

TODAY'S NUMBER:1,219 -- number of drug tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency for the 2006 Summer Olympics; one person tested positive and was disqualified.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the first United States Congress met in New York City and declared the new Constitution in effect. In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president. In 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was performed. In 1997, President Bill Clinton forbade the use of federal funds for human cloning research.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), composer; Casimir Pulaski (1747-79), military leader; Knute Rockne (1888-1931), football coach; John Garfield (1913-52), actor; Catherine O'Hara (1954- ), actress, is 54; Patricia Heaton (1959- ), actress, is 49; Ray Mancini (1961- ), boxer, is 47.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, champion boxer George Foreman refused to fight top-contender Tony Tucker and was stripped of his title by the World Boxing Association.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices." - Knute Rockne

TODAY'S FACT: Between 1945 and 1990 the U.S. produced more than 70,000 nuclear bombs and warheads; of these about 9,938 remained in the nuclear stockpile as of 2007.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12 - Years that Franklin Delano Roosevelt held the presidency, the longest term of any president.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1791, Congress passed its first excise tax, one on distilled liquors, which later sparked the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. In 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th state of the U.S. In 1931, the United States adopted "The Star-Spangled Banner" as its national anthem. In 2005, U.S. millionaire Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo, non-stop around the world, without refueling.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor; Jean Harlow (1911-37), actress; James Merrill (1926-95), poet; Ira Glass (1959- ), radio personality, is 49; Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1962- ), athlete, is 46; Jessica Biel (1982- ), actress, is 26.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1944, Bob Montgomery regained the lightweight boxing title in a rematch against Beau Jack.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you" - first words spoken on the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant, Thomas Watson

TODAY'S FACT: There is no law that requires "The Star-Spangled Banner" to be set to a specific tune. The most popular version was originally composed around 1775 as the song of the Anacreontic Society, an English musicians club.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 - number of Olympic medals won by Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Texas became independent from Mexico. In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the previous year's U.S. presidential election, though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote. In 1933, the film King Kong premiered in New York. In 1969, the Concorde supersonic airplane flew--at subsonic speeds--for the first time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sam Houston (1793-1863), soldier/politician; Pope Pius XII (1876-1958); Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) (1904-91), author; Mel Ott (1909-58), baseball player; Desi Arnaz (1917-86), actor/musician; Tom Wolfe (1931- ), author/journalist, is 77; Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ), former Soviet leader, is 77; Lou Reed (1942- ), musician, is 66; Jon Bon Jovi (1962- ), musician, is 46.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1927, Babe Ruth became the highest paid baseball player to date when the Yankees announced he would earn $70,000 a season for three years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "When I'm in New York I look at the Empire State Building and feel as though it belongs to me ... or is it vice versa?" - Fay Wray

TODAY'S FACT: King Kong was made in 1933 for about $10.5 million (in today's dollars); the 2005 remake cost a whopping $207 million to produce.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 - number of publishers that rejected And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss' first book for children.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, the Articles of Confederation were officially adopted. In 1932, the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the family home in New Jersey; he was later found dead. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps. In 2003, Pakistani counter-terrorism officials seized Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a principal planner of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. In 2005, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the execution of convicts who had committed their crimes before the age of 18 was unconstitutional.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Glenn Miller (1904-44), bandleader; Ralph Ellison (1914-94), writer; Dinah Shore (1917-94), singer/TV host; Yitzhak Rabin (1922-95), prime minister of Israel; Harry Belafonte (1927- ), musician/actor, is 81; Roger Daltrey (1944- ), musician, is 64; Ron Howard (1954- ), actor/director, is 54.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, Major League Baseball star Mickey Mantle announced his retirement.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You can cage the singer, but not the song." - Harry Belafonte

TODAY'S FACT: Following the sensational Lindbergh baby kidnapping, in June 1932 Congress passed the so-called Lindbergh Law, which gave the FBI jurisdiction over kidnappings that crossed state lines.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 190,000 - number of Peace Corps volunteers invited to 139 countries since its inception in 1961.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1740, French and Indian attackers destroyed the town of Deerfield, Mass. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar for her performance of "Mammy" in Gone with the Wind. In 1944, U.S. troops under General Douglas MacArthur invaded the Admiralty Islands. In 1960, an earthquake at Agadir, Morocco killed 12,000.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ann Lee (1736-1784), brought the Shaker sect to America; Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), composer; Herman Hollerith (1860-1929), engineer; Balthus (1908-2001), artist; Dinah Shore (1916-1994), singer; Al Rosen (1924- ), baseball player, is 84; Ja Rule (1976- ), rapper, is 32.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, Hank Aaron became the first MLB player to sign a $200,000 contract.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Painting is a language which no-one can replace with another language" - Balthus

TODAY'S FACT: In 1911, Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company merged with 2 other enterprises to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, renamed in 1924 the International Business Machines (IBM).

TODAY'S NUMBER: 4 - number of shakers in the United States in 2008, all at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (February 28) and new moon (March 7).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1954, James Watson and Francis Crick identified the double-helix structure of DNA in a Columbia University laboratory. In 1983, the last episode of the TV series M*A*S*H aired on national television. In 1993, federal agents stormed the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Michel de Montaigne (1553-1592), essayist; Vincente Minnelli (1910-1986), film director; Zero Mostel (1915-1977), actor/comedian; Bernadette Peters (1948- ), Broadway performer, is 60; Paul Krugman (1953- ), columnist/economist, is 55; John Turturro (1957- ), actor, is 51.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1960, the U.S. hockey team defeated Czechoslovakia, 9-4, to win their first Olympic gold medal in Squaw Valley, CA.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Men are most apt to believe what they least understand." - Michel de Montaigne

TODAY'S FACT: The highest-rated single TV show in history was the last episode of M*A*S*H, seen by 60.2% of TV-owning households, then about 50 million households.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 - number of gold medals won by the U.S. men's hockey team since 1960. They have finished second twice.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1827, New Orleans held its first Mardi Gras celebration. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting presidents to two terms. In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee on Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, beginning a standoff with federal marshals that lasted until May 8. In 1991, Kuwait was freed from Iraqi occupation by U.S.-led forces.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), poet; Hugo Black (1886-1971), U.S. Supreme Court justice; John Steinbeck (1902-1968), writer; Marian Anderson (1902-1993), singer; Joanne Woodward (1930- ), actress, is 78; Elizabeth Taylor (1932- ), actress, is 76; Ralph Nader (1934- ), consumer activist, is 74.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1901, baseball's National League ruled that all fouls count as strikes except after two strikes.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I guess a man is the only kind of varmint [that] sets his own trap, baits it, and then steps in it." - John Steinbeck

TODAY'S FACT: Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, is always 47 days before Easter Sunday. In 2008, it was celebrated on February 5, its earliest date since 1913.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 34 - number of years for which Hugo Black served on the U.S. Supreme Court.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (February 20) and last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, Adolf Hitler secretly commissioned a new German air force, the Luftwaffe. In 1987, the Tower Commission released its report on the Iran-Contra affair, criticizing President Ronald Reagan. In 1993, a terrorist bomb went off in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Victor Hugo (1802-1885), writer; Levi Strauss (1829-1902), tailor/inventor; Buffalo Bill Cody (1845-1917), frontiersman/showman; Jackie Gleason (1916-1987), comedian; Fats Domino (1928- ), musician, is 80; Johnny Cash (1932-2003), musician; Michael Bolton (1954- ), singer, is 54.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, golfer Nancy Lopez won the first LPGA tournament of her career--the Bent Tree Classic in Sarasota, Florida.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor. To meditate is to labor; to think is to act." - Victor Hugo

TODAY'S FACT: Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who went to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, made his first pair of "jeans" out of canvas.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 48 - age at which Johnny Cash was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, making him the youngest living inductee.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (February 20) and last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte returned to France from exile on the island of Elba. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to levy income taxes, went into effect. In 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, fled the Philippines.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), artist; Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), opera singer; John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), diplomat; George Harrison (1943-2001), musician; Sally Jessy Raphael (1943- ), TV personality, is 65; Sean Astin (1971- ), actor, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1964, Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight boxing crown.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art... if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost." - John Foster Dulles

TODAY'S FACT: Renoir was debilitated by arthritis in his later years but continued to paint from his wheelchair with a brush strapped to his arm.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,060 -pairs of shoes left behind by Imelda Romualdez Marcos when the former Philippine first lady was forced to flee the country in 1986.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (February 20) and last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1819, Spain signed a treaty turning eastern Florida over to the United States. In 1879, F. W. Woolworth opened his first store. In 1992, the UN Security Council approved the creation of a war crimes tribunal to address atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia's civil war. In 1997, Scottish scientists announced that they had cloned the first mammal from an adult, "Dolly" the sheep.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: George Washington (1732-1799), soldier/1st U.S. president; Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), philosopher; Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), composer; Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), poet; Edward (Ted) Kennedy (1932- ), U.S. senator, is 76; Julius Erving (1950- ), basketball player, is 58; Drew Barrymore (1975- ), actress, is 33.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, in the so-called "Miracle on Ice," the U.S. Olympic hockey team upset the Soviet Union, 4-3, in Lake Placid, NY.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation." - George Washington

TODAY'S FACT: Like Mozart, Chopin was considered a musical prodigy in childhood; by the age of 7 he had composed two simple marches.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 119 - number of years Woolworth operated its F.W. Woolworth five-and-dimes until closing its last 400 stores in 1997.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (February 20) and last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto. In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City. In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Leo Delibes (1836-1891), composer; Anais Nin (1903-1977), writer; Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984), film director; Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), humorist; William Petersen (1953- ), actor, is 55; Kelsey Grammer (1955- ), actor, is 53; Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979- ), actress, is 29.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, in a game against the New York Rangers, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks became the third player in NHL history to score 500 lifetime goals.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." - Malcolm X

TODAY'S FACT: Chemnitz, East Germany, changed its name to Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1953. After East and West Germany reunited in 1990, the name was changed back following a referendum.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 - presidents since Richard Nixon who have not visited China. Jimmy Carter normalized relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979 but never made an official visit to the country.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (February 20) and last quarter (February 28).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1839, Congress passed legislation prohibiting dueling in the District of Columbia. In 1864, the Confederates won the Battle of Olustee, the biggest Civil War battle fought in Florida. In 1962, astronaut John Glenn made three orbits of the Earth. In 1986, the Soviet Union launched the Mir space station.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ansel Adams (1902-1984), photographer; Sidney Poitier (1924- ), actor, is 84; Kelsey Grammer (1955- ), actor, is 53; Charles Barkley (1963- ), basketball player/broadcaster, is 45; Kurt Cobain (1967-1994), musician; Stephon Marbury (1977- ), basketball player, is 31.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, 15-year-old Tara Lipinski became the youngest woman to win a figure skating gold medal at the Olympics.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "History passes the final judgment." - Sidney Poitier

TODAY'S FACT: There have been 23 NASA astronauts from Ohio to date, including John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,954 - length in miles of the border between the United States and Mexico.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (February 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1807, former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested for treason. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of Japanese-Americans. In 1945, the U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543), astronomer; Stan Kenton (1912-1979), jazz musician; Lee Marvin (1924-1987), actor; Smokey Robinson (1940- ), singer, is 68; Amy Tan (1952- ), writer, is 56; Benicio Del Toro (1967- ), actor, is 41.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, Sterling Marlin became the first person in a decade to win back-to-back Daytona 500s.

TODAY'S QUOTE:"Never do today what you can as well do tomorrow; because something may occur to make you regret your premature action." - Aaron Burr

TODAY'S FACT: About 33,000 Japanese-Americans served in the U.S. military during World War II.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 29,035 - height in feet of Mount Everest, world's highest mountain.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (February 13) and full moon (February 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, ultimately touching off the Spanish-American War. In 1944, American planes bombed the historic abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy. In 1950, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong signed a mutual defense pact. In 2005, the website YouTube was launched.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), scientist; Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), Harold Arlen (1905-1986), songwriter; Claire Bloom (1931- ), actress, is 77; Matt Groening (1954- ), cartoonist, is 54; Chris Farley (1964-1997), comedian; Jaromir Jagr (1972- ), hockey player, is 36.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, after 19 losses, Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his first and only Daytona 500.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "But I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. " - Galileo Galilei

TODAY'S FACT: The Simpsons is the longest running American sitcom, currently in its 19th season.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12,750 - total length, in miles, of sidewalks in New York City.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (February 13) and full moon (February 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1859, Oregon entered the union as the 33rd state. In 1899, Congress passed legislation authorizing states to use voting machines in federal elections. In 1912, Arizona entered the union as the 48th state. In 1929, seven mobsters were killed in Chicago in the "Valentine's Day Massacre."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jack Benny (1894-1974), comedian; Jimmy Hoffa (1913-1975), labor leader; Mel Allen (1913-1996), sports broadcaster; Florence Henderson (1934- ), actress, is 74, Meg Tilly (1960- ), actress, is 48; Drew Bledsoe (1972- ), football player, is 36.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Bobby Allison became the oldest driver (age 50) to win the Daytona 500, while his son Davey finished second. It was the race's first 1-2 father-son finish.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Jack Benny

TODAY'S FACT: Valentine's Day derives from a religious feast day celebrating two Christian martyrs by that name, but details of their lives are murky. Many say the feast day was instituted as a replacement for the pagan festival of Lupercalis.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 24 - number of times that Mel Allen announced Major League Baseball's All-Star game.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (February 13) and full moon (February 20).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1689, William and Mary were proclaimed joint monarchs of Great Britain. In 1866, Jesse James held up his first bank. In 1945, Allied aircraft began bombing the German city of Dresden. In 1960, France successfully detonated its first atomic bomb. In 2000, the last of Charles Schulz's Peanuts comics ran in Sunday papers.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Grant Wood (1892-1942), artist; Chuck Yeager (1923- ), aviator, is 85; Kim Novak (1933- ), actress, is 75; Jerry Springer (1944- ), TV personality, is 64; Stockard Channing (1944- ), actress, is 64; Randy Moss (1977- ), football player, is 31; Robbie Williams (1974- ), singer, is 34.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1976, American Dorothy Hamill won the Gold Medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

TODAY'S FACT: The city of Dresden was devastated by Allied bombing raids; estimates of civilian casualties from the bombings range from 35,000 to 135,000.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17,897 - number of Peanuts comic strips penned by Charles Schulz over nearly 50 years.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1554, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded. In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in New York City. In 1999, the U.S. Senate acquitted President Bill Clinton on both impeachment counts against him, the first 55-45 against conviction, the second 50-50. In 2002, former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic went on trial for crimes against humanity.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), U.S. president; Charles Darwin (1809-1882), scientist; Franco Zeffirelli (1923- ), director, is 85; Bill Russell (1934- ), basketball player, is 74; Judy Blume (1938- ), writer, is 70; Arsenio Hall (1955- ), actor/comedian, is 53; Christina Ricci (1980- ), actress, is 28.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1878, Harvard baseball player Frederick Thayer patented the catcher's mask.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Truth is generally the best vindication against slander." - Abraham Lincoln

TODAY'S FACT: Charles Darwin replaced Charles Dickens on Britain's 10-pound note in 2000, reportedly in part because Darwin's imposing beard would make forgery difficult.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9 - days Lady Jane Grey was queen of England before she met her demise.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin concluded their meeting in Yalta. In 1962, writer Sylvia Plath committed suicide in London. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from a South African prison after over 27 years behind bars. In 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a friend while hunting quail.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Edison (1847-1931), inventor; Leslie Nielsen (1926- ), actor, is 82; Mary Quant (1934- ), fashion designer and creator of the miniskirt, is 74; Burt Reynolds (1936- ), actor, is 72; Sheryl Crow (1962- ), singer, is 46; Jennifer Aniston (1969- ), actress, is 39; Kelly Rowland (1981- ), singer, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1949, Willie Pep regained the featherweight boxing title by defeating Sandy Saddler.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The miniskirt enables young ladies to run faster, and because of it, they may have to." - John Lindsay, mayor of New York City

TODAY'S FACT: During his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela was allowed to receive one letter every six months and one visitor for 30 minutes every year.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14,678 - number of unintentional deaths caused by firearms in the U.S. in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1763, the Seven Years War, often known in the U.S. as the French and Indian War, ended with the Treaty of Paris. In 1840, Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. In 1967, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, clarifying presidential succession, was ratified. In 1996, the IBM "Deep Blue" computer defeated chess champion Garry Kasparov in 34 moves, though Kasparov went on to win the tournament 3-1 with two draws. In 2005, North Korea publicly acknowledged that it had nuclear weapons.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Lamb (1775-1824), writer; Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), writer; Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), playwright; Jimmy Durante (1893-1980), comedian; Mark Spitz (1950- ), swimmer, is 58; Laura Dern (1967- ), actress, is 41.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in what has been called the greatest upset in boxing history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Sentimentally I am disposed to harmony; but organically I am incapable of a tune." - Charles Lamb

TODAY'S FACT: Arthur Miller died exactly 56 years after Death of a Salesman opened in New York on this date in 1949.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 9 - number of children Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had together; all married into royal houses in Europe.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America. In 1964, the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, launching rock music's "British invasion." In 1994, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), U.S. president; Ronald Colman (1891-1958), actor; Brendan Behan (1923-1964), playwright; Roger Mudd (1928- ), broadcaster, is 80; Joe Pesci (1943- ), actor, is 65; Alice Walker (1944- ), writer, is 64; Mia Farrow (1945- ), actress, is 63; Travis Tritt (1963- ), singer, is 45; Mena Suvari (1979- ), actress, is 29.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, Magic Johnson, who had retired three months earlier after announcing he had contracted HIV, was named MVP of the NBA All-Star game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A candidate's character is central to political reporting because it is central to a citizen's decision in voting. The media, therefore, have a major obligation--nay, a burden--to report on the character of our presidential candidates." - Roger Mudd

TODAY'S FACT: Some 45.3 percent of all U.S. TV-owning households tuned in to see The Beatles debut in America on The Ed Sullivan Show, the then-highest rated TV telecast and still the 24th highest of all-time.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 250 - length in feet of Henry Ford's first assembly line.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded. In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which drastically overhauled U.S. media regulations, into law. In 2005, Israel and Palestine announced a cease-fire.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), U.S. general; Jules Verne (1828-1905), writer; Lana Turner (1920-1995), actress; Jack Lemmon (1925-2001), actor; James Dean (1931-55), actor; Nick Nolte (1941- ), actor, is 67; John Grisham (1955- ), writer, is 53; Gary Coleman (1968 - ), actor, is 40.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, Finland beat Sweden 6-0 in the first women's Olympic ice hockey game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "War is hell." - attributed to William Tecumseh Sherman

TODAY'S FACT: In 1971, Baskin-Robbins created "Jack Lemon Ice Cream" in honor of the actor.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 51 - number of years that artist Norman Rockwell illustrated the official Boy Scout calendar.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1904, the Great Fire of Baltimore, which destroyed over 1,500 buildings, broke out. In 1917, a German U-boat sank the British ship California off the Irish coast. In 1964, the Beatles arrived in New York.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: St. Thomas More (1477-1535), lawyer/writer/politician, saint; Charles Dickens (1812-1870), novelist; Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), writer; Eubie Blake (1883-1983), composer, pianist; Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), novelist; Garth Brooks (1962- ), singer, is 46; Chris Rock (1966- ), actor/comedian, is 42; Ashton Kutcher (1978- ), actor, is 30.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1970, Pete Maravich set the all-time record for points scored in a college basketball game (69).

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Take nothing on its looks: take everything on evidence." - Charles Dickens

TODAY'S FACT: The Beatles had released three singles in the U.S. to very little fanfare before "I Want to Hold Your Hand" soared up the charts.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 71 - number of days (plus 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds) in Ellen MacArthur's record-setting solo sail around the globe, which she finished on this day in 2005.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (February 6) and first quarter (February 13).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1778, representatives of the United States and France signed an alliance in Paris. In 1788, Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the 6th U.S. state. In 1952, Britain's King George VI died of cancer. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan National Airport. In 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), dramatist/poet; Aaron Burr (1756-1836), politician/U.S. vice president; Babe Ruth (1895-1948), baseball player; Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917- ), actress, is 91; Bob Marley (1945-1981), musician; Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), 40th U.S. president; Tom Brokaw (1940- ), journalist/author, is 68.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1958, the Boston Red Sox signed Ted Williams for $135,000, at the time the highest salary in baseball history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Status quo, you know, that is Latin for 'the mess we're in.'" - Ronald Reagan

TODAY'S FACT: Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and chairman of the Reagan Legacy Project, lead the effort to rename Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 76 - percentage of Israel's population that is Jewish.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1631, Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, arrived in Boston from England. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announced a plan to expand the Supreme Court to as many as 15 justices. In 1988, Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega was indicted in Florida on charges of bribery and drug trafficking.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965), politician/diplomat; Red Buttons (1919-2006), comedian; Hank Aaron (1934- ), baseball player, is 74; Christopher Guest (1948- ), actor/filmmaker, is 60; Jennifer Jason Leigh (1962- ), actress, is 46; Laura Linney (1964- ), actress, is 44; Bobby Brown (1969- ), singer, is 39.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, Bob Douglas, "the Father of Black Basketball" became the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them." - Adlai Stevenson

TODAY'S FACT: The Third Punic War, between Rome and Carthage, led to the destruction of the city of Carthage in 146 BC; some 2,100 years later, on February 5, 1985, the mayors of Rome and Carthage met in Tunis, Algeria, and signed a friendship treaty declaring the end of the war.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 31 - number of years between the assassination of Medgar Evers and the conviction of his killer, Byron de la Beckwith, on this day in 1994.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

Today is the 35th day of 2008 and the 45th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected as first president of the United States by the Electoral College. In 1922, the Ford Motor Co. acquired the Lincoln Motor Co. for $8 million. In 1974, newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, California. In 1999, Hugo Chávez was elected president of Venezuela.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Fernand Leger (1881-1955), artist; Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974), aviator; Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), theologian/Holocaust victim; Rosa Parks (1913-2005), activist; Betty Friedan (1921-2006), writer/activist; Oscar de la Hoya (1973- ), boxer, is 35.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1987, skipper Dennis Conner sailed to victory in the America's Cup, redeeming his loss in 1983--the first time an American had failed to win the 132 year-old event.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself." - Betty Friedan

TODAY'S FACT: The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, were the first Olympic Games to use artificial snow.

TODAY'S NUMBER: -81°F - the coldest outdoor temperature recorded in North America to date, at Snag in Canada's Yukon Territory, on this day in 1947.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1913, the federal income tax was authorized with ratification of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. In 1959, rock pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. In 1962, President John Kennedy banned trade with Cuba. In 1994, President Bill Clinton ended the 19-year-old trade embargo with Vietnam.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), composer; Horace Greeley (1811-1872) activist/newspaper editor; Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), writer; Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), artist/illustrator; James Michener (1907-1997), novelist; Blythe Danner (1943- ), actress, is 65; Morgan Fairchild (1950- ), actress, is 58; Nathan Lane (1956- ), actor, is 52; Maura Tierney (1965- ), actress, is 43.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, legendary jockey Willie Shoemaker rode the 40,350th and final race of his career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." - Gertrude Stein

TODAY'S FACT: Juneau, Alaska, can be reached by cruise ship, ferry, or air, but it is the only U.S. city that cannot be reached by road

TODAY'S NUMBER: 400 - pages of federal tax rules in the first edition of the commonly used Standard Federal Tax Reporter. There are now more than 67,000.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1626, Charles I was crowned king of England. In 1848, the war between the U.S. and Mexico ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In 1921, airmail service began between New York and San Francisco. In 1990, South African president F.W. de Klerk ended the ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James Joyce (1882-1941), author; George Halas (1895-1983), football coach/team owner; W.H. Auden (1907-1973), poet; Jussi Bjoerling (1911-1960), opera singer; Elaine Stritch (1926- ), actress/comedienne, is 82; Stan Getz (1927-1991), jazz musician; Farrah Fawcett (1947- ), actress, is 61; Christie Brinkley (1954- ), model, is 54; Shakira (1977- ), singer, is 31.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1936, the first inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame were announced: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality." - James Joyce

TODAY'S FACT: Since the release of the popular movie Groundhog Day (1993), crowds of up to 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania each year on February 2 to see whether Punxsutawney Phil observes his shadow.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 96 - number of times in the 120-year history of Groundhog Day that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Texas voted to secede from the Union, as pro-Union Governor Sam Houston stormed out of the session in protest. In 1920, Canada created the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and more than 700 other demonstrators were arrested at a protest in Selma, Alabama. In 2003, the U.S. space shuttle Columbia fell apart minutes before it was due to land, killing its seven-member crew.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Ford (1895-1973), film director; Clark Gable (1901-1960), actor; Langston Hughes (1902-1967), poet; Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004), opera singer; Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007), Russian president; Princess Stephanie of Monaco (1965- ) is 43.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, Utah Jazz guard John Stockton broke Magic Johnson's record for all-time assists, finishing the game with a career total of 9,227.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it." - Langston Hughes

TODAY'S FACT: Before February was Black History Month, Harvard scholar Carter G. Woodson created "Negro History Week" in 1926, for the second week in February, when both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were born.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 12,345,678,987,654,321 - number that results from multiplying 111,111,111 by 111,111,111.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1606, Guy Fawkes was executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot in Britain. In 1917, Germany announced the renewal of submarine warfare in the Atlantic. In 1968, the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive began in South Vietnam. In 2006, Samuel Alito, Jr. took the bench as the 110th Supreme Court justice.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franz Schubert (1797-1828), composer; John O'Hara (1905-1970), writer; Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), baseball player; Carol Channing (1923- ), actress, is 85; Norman Mailer (1923-2007), writer; Justin Timberlake (1981- ), singer, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, the Chicago White Sox announced that they were changing the name of Comiskey Park to U.S. Cellular Field.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go by travelling in a straight line until one is stopped." - Norman Mailer

TODAY'S FACT: The first Social Security check, issued today in 1940, was for $22.54 and went to Ida May Fuller, who lived on a Vermont farm. Having worked less than three years under Social Security, she only paid $24.75, but had collected $ 22,888.92 by the time of her death in 1975.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 10,000 - the number of Baby Boomers who become eligible for Social Security every day.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (January 30) and new moon (February 6).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1649, England's King Charles I was executed. In 1943, German troops surrendered in Stalingrad, ending World War II's bloodiest battle. In 2005, Iraqi citizens voted in the first free elections in a half century despite surrounding violence.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), U.S. president; Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989), historian; Ernie Banks (1931- ), baseball player, is 77; Gene Hackman (1930- ), actor, is 78; Tammy Grimes (1934- ), actress/singer, is 74; Dick Cheney (1941- ), U.S. vice president, is 67; Jalen Rose (1973- ), basketball player, is 35.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2002, Karl Malone became the second NBA player (after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to score 34,000 career points.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up--or else all go down--as one people." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

TODAY'S FACT: In 1660, after the restoration of the monarchy, the body of Oliver Cromwell, who had ruled England for 9 years following the execution of Charles I, was disinterred and hanged.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5,171 - number of polling centers in Iraq that opened for free elections in 2005 (out of the 5,232 centers that were expected).

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter (January 30).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Kansas was admitted into the union as the 34th state. In 1891, Queen Liliuokalani became the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands. In 1984, Ronald Reagan announced that he would run for a second term as U.S. president. In 2002, Pres. George W. Bush described Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Paine (1737-1809), patriot/philosopher; William McKinley (1843-1901), U.S. president; Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), playwright, writer; W.C. Fields (1880-1946), comedian; Tom Selleck (1945- ), actor, is 63; Oprah Winfrey (1954-), TV personality, is 54; Jonny Lang, (1981- ), musician, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26, becoming the first NFL team to win five Super Bowls.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I never vote for anyone. I always vote against." - W.C. Fields

TODAY'S FACT: Edgar Allan Poe published his famous poem "The Raven" anonymously in the New York Evening Mirror on this day in 1845. He was paid $15.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 - approximate percentage of Ellis Island arrivals not admitted into the U.S.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (January 22) and last quarter (January 30).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1547, England's King Henry VIII died. In 1871, France surrendered to Germany, ending the Franco-Prussian War. In 1915, the U.S. Coast Guard was founded. In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing seven astronauts.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jose Marti (1853-1895), poet/activist; Colette (1873-1954), writer; Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), artist; Alan Alda (1936- ), actor, is 72; Elijah Wood (1981- ), actor, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1901, baseball's American League formally organized as a major league.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Total absence of humor renders life impossible." - Colette

TODAY'S FACT: A ranch owner in Fort Keogh, Montana, discovered the largest reported snowflake on this day in 1887. It measured 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 20,000-25,000 - estimated number of genes in the human genome, revised from 100,000 in 2001.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (January 22) and last quarter (January 30).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1533, King Henry VIII of England married Anne Boleyn. In 1787, Shay's Rebellion broke out in Massachusetts. In 1915, Alexander Graham Bell made the first transcontinental telephone call from New York to San Francisco. In 1961, a few days after his inauguration, President John F. Kennedy held the first televised presidential news conference.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert Burns (1759-1796), poet; W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1964), novelist; Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), novelist/essayist; Etta James (1938- ), singer, is 70; Paul Nurse (1949- ), biochemist, is 59; Chris Chelios (1962- ), hockey player, is 46; Alicia Keys (1981- ), singer, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS In 1924, the first ever Winter Olympics began in Chamonix, France.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top." - Virginia Woolf

TODAY'S FACT: In the first Winter Olympics, the Canadian ice hockey team trounced their opponents, winning all 5 games and outscoring the competition 110-3.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 - number of wives of King Henry VIII, two of which he ordered executed by beheading.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (January 22) and last quarter (January 30).

More than 100,000 people moved to California in the following years—so many that it entered the Union on Sept. 9, 1850 with the nickname "The Golden State." Very few made their riches through gold, but some found success in other ways, including Levi Strauss (jeans), James McClatchy (newspapers and publishing), and Leland Stanford (railroad tycoon and founder of Stanford Univ.).

The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco has a chronology of the gold rush and accounts by Marshall, Sutter, and several "Argonauts of 49" (49ers for short).

The California State Library has posted some of their manuscripts pertaining to the gold rush in an online exhibit of ephemera, including some by Marshall and Sutter.

The Gold Rush (Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco)
California As We Saw It (California State Library)
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park

"Gum Shan Meets El Dorado" Quarter plate daguerreotype by J. B. Starkweather (c. 1852)

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California, setting off the California Gold Rush. In 1965, Winston Churchill died at the age of 90. In 2003, Tom Ridge was sworn in as the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), playwright; Edith Wharton (1862-1937), novelist; Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), artist; Oral Roberts (1918- ), evangelist, is 90; Neil Diamond (1941- ), singer/songwriter, is 67; John Belushi (1949-1982), comic actor; Nastassja Kinski (1960- ), actress, is 48; Mary Lou Retton (1968- ), Olympic gold medalist, is 40; Mischa Barton (1986- ), actress, is 22.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday bought the New York Mets for an estimated $21.1 million, at the time the most ever paid for a baseball franchise.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Songs are life in eighty words or less." - Neil Diamond

TODAY'S FACT: Seventy-three years ago today, canned beer went on sale for the first time, in Richmond, Virginia.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,558 - number of times Barry Bonds was walked in the 2007 season, more than Hank Aaron (1,402) or Babe Ruth (2,062).

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (January 22) and last quarter (January 30).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1845, Congress designated that presidential elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In 1922, in Toronto, insulin was first injected into a human patient with diabetes. In 1968, North Korean patrol boats captured the USS Pueblo.. In 2005, Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of the Ukraine, only four months after becoming seriously ill as a result of dioxin poisoning.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Stendhal (1783-1842), novelist; Edouard Manet (1832-1883), artist; Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948), film director; Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962), comedian; Chita Rivera (1933- ), actress/dancer, is 73; Rutger Hauer (1944- ), actor, is 64; Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957- ) is 51; Mariska Hargitay (1964- ), actress, is 44.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1944, the Detroit Red Wings set a record for the most one-sided hockey game by beating the New York Rangers 15-0.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Eighty percent of success is showing up." - Woody Allen

TODAY'S FACT: Chita Rivera was the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors Award. She has also received two Tony Awards for her work in musical theatre.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,600,000 - highest recorded mileage for a car, a 1966 Volvo P1800-S owned by retired science teacher Irv Gordon of Long Island in New York.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (January 22) and last quarter (January 30).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1901, Britain's Queen Victoria died at age 82, after a record 64-year reign. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on abortion in the Roe v. Wade case. In 1997, Madeline Albright was confirmed as the first female U.S. Secretary of State. In 1998, "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, CA, and was sentenced to life without parole.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Francis Bacon (1561-1626), philosopher/essayist; Lord Byron (1788-1824), poet; August Strindberg (1849-1912), playwright; D.W. Griffith (1875-1948), film director; George Balanchine (1904-1983), choreographer; Steve Perry (1949- ), singer, is 59; Linda Blair (1959- ), actress, is 49.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2006, Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most in a regular NBA game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Opinions are made to be changed--or how is truth to be got at?" - Lord Byron

TODAY'S FACT: The tradition of performing Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker during the holiday season began with George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet in 1954.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16 - number of bombings attributed to Ted Kaczynski over his 17-year spree.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (January 22).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1793, King Louis XVI of France went to the guillotine in Paris. In 1861, Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. senate. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned nearly all Vietnam War draft evaders. In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group in the U.S.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863); soldier; Christian Dior (1905-57), fashion designer; Telly Savalas (1924-1994), actor; Jack Nicklaus (1940- ), golfer, is 68; Placido Domingo (1941- ), opera singer, is 67; Geena Davis (1956- ), actress, is 52.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1979, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 35-31, in Super Bowl XIII to become the first NFL team to win three Super Bowls.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established." - Jefferson Davis

TODAY'S FACT: Though it was primarily in use during the French Revolution, the guillotine was used for executions in France as recently as 1977; the death penalty was abolished there in 1981.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 44.3 million - estimated Hispanic population of the U.S. as of July 1, 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (January 15) and full moon (January 22).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1778, Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, calling them the Sandwich Islands. In 1964, planners unveiled the designs for New York's World Trade Center. In 1993, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time. In 2002, the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone was declared over by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), political philosopher; Daniel Webster (1782-1852), statesman/orator; A. A. Milne (1882-1965), children's author; Cary Grant (1904-1986), actor; Danny Kaye (1913-1987), entertainer; Kevin Costner (1955- ), actor, is 53; Mark Messier (1961- ), NHL player, is 47.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1976, wide receiver Lynn Swann gained 161 yards on four receptions and was named MVP as Pittsburgh defeated Dallas, 21-17, in Super Bowl X.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." - A.A. Milne

TODAY'S FACT: Cary Grant's real name was Archibald Leach.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 137 - number of islands included in Hawaii's official territory, a chain extending more than 1,000 miles.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (January 15) and full moon (January 22).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1773, Captain James Cook, along with his shipmates, became the first to sail south of the Antarctic Circle. In 1819, Simon Bolivar proclaimed Colombia a republic. In 1991, a U.S.-led coalition's planes struck targets in Kuwait and Iraq, launching the Persian Gulf War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), statesman/inventor/author; Al Capone (1899-1947), organized crime boss; Betty White (1922- ), actress, is 86; James Earl Jones (1931- ), actor, is 77; Muhammad Ali (1942- ), boxer, is 66; Jim Carrey (1962- ), actor, is 46.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1971, the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13, in Super Bowl V, a game so filled with errors it was called the "Blunder Bowl."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A man who views the world at 50 the same way as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - Muhammad Ali

TODAY'S FACT: When James Earl Jones was four he developed a stutter and refused to talk. A high school teacher finally helped him overcome it.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 26 - age of Al Capone when he became boss of the Chicago Outfit.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (January 15) and full moon (January 22).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the League of Nations held its first meeting. In 1964, Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway. In 1979, the Shah of Iran fled his homeland in the wake of a revolution. In 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took power in Liberia as the first woman in Africa to be elected head of state.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ethel Merman (1909-1984), Broadway star; Dizzy Dean (1910-1974), baseball player; Susan Sontag (1933-2004), author/critic; Marilyn Horne (1934- ), opera singer, is 74; Ronnie Milsap (1944- ), singer, is 64; Roy Jones Jr. (1969- ), pro boxer, is 39; Kate Moss (1974- ), model, is 34.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1961 Mickey Mantle signed a contract for an annual salary of $75,000, making him the highest paid player in the American League.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." - Susan Sontag

TODAY'S FACT: Ethel Merman was the 8th performer to play the lead in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!, following in the footsteps of the likes of Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Betty Grable, and Ginger Rogers.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 - number of countries that were members of the League of Nations for its entire duration; 35 other nations were members intermittently.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter (January 15) and full moon (January 22).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1759, the British Museum opened to the public. In 1920, prohibition went into effect in the United States. In 1930, Amelia Earhart reached a speed of 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega, setting an aviation record for women. In 2006, Michelle Bachelet became the first woman elected president of Chile.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Edward Teller (1908-2003), physicist; Gene Krupa (1909-1973), jazz drummer; Lloyd Bridges (1913-1998), actor; Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), Egyptian president; Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader; Mario Van Peebles (1957- ), actor/director, is 51; Kari Mattila (1959- ), opera singer, is 49.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1942, U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to the commissioner of Major League Baseball that gave the "green light" to play during World War II.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

TODAY'S FACT: The Volstead Act, passed by Congress to enforce the 18th (Prohibition) Amendment, made concessions for medicinal, sacramental, and industrial liquors, as well as for fruit and grape beverages prepared for personal use in homes.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 44 - number of years Queen Elizabeth I of England reigned after being officially crowned on this day in 1559.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1784, the U.S. ratified the "Treaty of Paris" that ended the Revolutionary War. In 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Charles de Gaulle met in Casablanca, Morocco. In 2004, former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud, accepting a 10-year prison sentence.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benedict Arnold (1741-1801), American soldier/traitor; Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), theologian/physician; Hal Roach (1892-1992), film and TV producer; John Dos Passos (1896-1970), writer; Andy Rooney (1919- ), writer/TV commentator, is 89; Faye Dunaway (1941- ), actress, is 67; Shannon Lucid (1943- ), astronaut, is 65; LL Cool J (1968- ), rapper, is 40; Jason Bateman (1969- ), actor, is 39.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl, 14-7, and became the only NFL team ever to end the season undefeated.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The creation of a world view is the work of a generation rather than of an individual, but we each of us, for better or worse, add our brick to the edifice." - John Dos Passos

TODAY'S FACT: Franklin D. Roosevelt's meeting in Casablanca marked the first time a U.S. president ever left the country's soil during wartime. .

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16 - number of other conflicts ended by treaties known as a "Treaty of Paris," including the Seven Years War and Spanish-American War

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (January 8) and first quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1864, American songwriter Stephen Foster died in New York's Bellevue Hospital at age 37. In 1910, inventor Lee de Forest made a live radio broadcast from New York's Metropolitan Opera. In 1942, the Allies announced that they would prosecute war criminals after the end of World War II. In 1990, Virginian L. Douglas Wilder became the first elected African American governor.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Horatio Alger (1832-1899), author; Sophie Tucker (1884-1966), singer; Gwen Verdon (1926-2000), dancer and actress; Charles Nelson Reilly (1921-2007), actor; Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961- ), actress, is 47; Orlando Bloom (1977- ), actor, is 31.

TODAY'S SPORTS In 2005, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig sold the Milwaukee Brewers to Mark Attanasio for $223 million.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You can only milk a cow so long; then you're left holding the pail." - Hank Aaron.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1959, Lee De Forest won an honorary Oscar for his 1920 invention that made "talkies," films with audio, possible.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1915, the United States established the Rocky Mountain National Park. In 1932, Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to the Senate. In 1991, a divided Congress authorized Pres. George H.W. Bush to use force in expelling Iraq from Kuwait.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Hancock (1737-1793), founding father of the U.S.; Edmund Burke (1729-1797), British statesman; Jack London (1876-1916), writer; Joe Frazier (1944- ), boxer, is 64; Rush Limbaugh (1951- ), radio personality, is 57; Howard Stern (1954- ), radio personality, is 54; Kirstie Alley (1955- ), actress, is 52; Jeff Bezos (1964- ), Amazon.com founder, is 44.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball was sold in auction to Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn comics, for $3 million, the most ever paid for a sports artifact.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none." - Edmund Burke

TODAY'S FACT: Amazon.com opened in 1995 but it didn't make a profit until 2002.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16 - number of women serving at the start of the 110th U.S. Senate.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (January 8) and first quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1908, Pres. Theodore Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon a national monument. In 1964, the U.S. surgeon general issued the first U.S. government report concluding that smoking could be hazardous to health. In 2003, departing Illinois governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of an unprecedented 156 death row inmates.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexander Hamilton (1755?-1804), U.S. statesman; William James (1842-1910), philosopher/psychologist; Rod Taylor (1930- ), actor, is 78; Jean Chretien (1934- ), former Canadian prime minister, is 74; Naomi Judd (1946- ), singer, is 62; Mary J. Blige (1971- ), singer, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1973, the owners of MLB's American League teams approved the rule of the designated hitter.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." - Mark Twain

TODAY'S FACT: Alexander Hamilton was born to a poor family on the Caribbean island of Nevis; conflicting sets of records leave it unclear whether he was born in 1755 or 1757.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 438,000 - estimated number of smoking-related deaths in America each year from 1997 to 2001.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (January 8) and first quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1776 Thomas Paine published his pro-independence pamphlet Common Sense, which quickly sold some 100,000 copies. In 1863, the London Underground (subway) began operations. In 1901, Texas had its first significant oil strike at Beaumont. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the multi-nation treaty barring it from developing a nuclear weapons program.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ray Bolger (1904-1987), actor/dancer; Paul Henreid (1908-1992), actor; Sal Mineo (1939-1976), actor; Rod Stewart (1945- ), singer, is 63; George Foreman (1949- ), boxer, is 59; Pat Benatar (1953- ), singer, is 55.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1982, Dwight Clark caught a touchdown pass, thrown by Joe Montana, with 51 seconds to spare to secure a San Francisco 49er's victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC championship game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Boxing is sort of like jazz. The better it is, the less amount of people can appreciate it." - George Foreman

TODAY'S FACT: A butterfly can see the colors red, green, and yellow.

TODAY'S NUMBER: $530 million - estimated amount of John D. Rockefeller's philanthropy at the time of his death in 1937, which would now equal about $7.7 billion.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (January 8) and first quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the fifth U.S. state. In 1905, nervous guards at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing about 200 and sparking revolution. In 1945, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the American 6th Army invaded the island of Luzon in the Philippines. In 2005, Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Chic Young (1901-1973), creator of Blondie; Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), writer; Richard Nixon (1913-1994), U.S. president; Judith Krantz (1928- ), writer, is 80; Bob Denver (1935-2005), actor; Joan Baez (1941- ), singer, is 67; Mark Martin (1959- ), NASCAR driver, is 49; Dave Matthews (1967- ), musician, is 41.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, the Milwaukee Bucks ended the L.A. Lakers' record 33-game winning streak with a 120-104 win.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger... You see, one can only be angry with those he respects." - Richard Nixon

TODAY'S FACT: The comic strip "Blondie," launched by Chic Young in 1930, eventually appeared in more than 2,000 newspapers around the world and was the subject of a 1995 stamp commemorating the centennial of the American comic strip.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,057 - number of rooms in the Winter Palace. It is now part of the Hermitage museum.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (January 8) and first quarter (January 15).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1815, Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans. In 1877, Crazy Horse fought—and lost—his final battle against the U.S. Cavalry. In 1916, Allied forces retreated from Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula after a crushing defeat. In 1982, AT&T agreed to give up its 22 local "Baby Bells."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jose Ferrer (1912-1992), actor; Elvis Presley (1935-1977), singer/actor; Soupy Sales (1926- ), TV personality, is 82; Stephen Hawking (1942- ), physicist, is 66; David Bowie (1947- ), musician, is 61; Wolfgang Puck (1949- ), chef, is 59; R. Kelly (1967), singer, is 41.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1901, the first American Bowling Congress sanctioned tournament was held in Chicago, IL.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "People who boast about their I.Q. are losers." - Stephen Hawking when asked his I.Q. by a New York Times reporter

TODAY'S FACT: About 600,000 people annually visit Elvis Presley's Graceland estate.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 641 - projected length (in feet) of the Crazy Horse Memorial, which will be the largest sculpture in the world when it is completed.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (January 8).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries crossed the English Channel in a balloon. In 1955, Marian Anderson made her debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, becoming the first African American to sing there. In 1999, the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the Senate.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), U.S. president; Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), composer; Zora Neale Hurston (1901-1960), writer; Charles Addams (1912-1988), cartoonist; David Caruso (1956- ), actor, is 52; Katie Couric (1957- ), TV news anchor, is 51; Nicolas Cage (1964- ), actor, is 44.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1927, in Hinckley, IL, the Harlem Globetrotters played the first game of their long career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president." - Bill Clinton

TODAY'S FACT: The original Harlem Globetrotters were actually from Chicago. The name was a marketing tool. The team didn't play a game in Harlem until 1968.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.5 - length in hours of the first balloon trip across the English Channel (at its narrowest point of 21 miles).

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1838, Samuel F. B. Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time. In 1912, New Mexico was admitted to the Union as the 47th state. In 1919, former President Theodore Roosevelt died at age 60. In 1941, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the Four Freedoms (freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from want and fear) in a speech to Congress.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joan of Arc (1412-1431), French saint and national heroine; Max Bruch (1838-1930), composer; Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet/biographer; Tom Mix (1880-1940), actor; Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), poet/novelist; Danny Thomas (1912-1991), comedian; Loretta Young (1913-2000), actress; Rowan Atkinson (1955- ), actor, is 53; Howie Long (1960- ), football player/broadcaster, is 48.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1994, U.S. champion figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the knee on the orders of a rival, Tonya Harding.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work." - Carl Sandburg

TODAY'S FACT: Theodore Roosevelt, the youngest president to take office at age 42, was the first president to travel outside of the U.S.

TODAY'S NUMBER: $30,000 - amount Congress appropriated in 1843 for Samuel F. B. Morse to construct the first experimental telegraph line between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1914, Ford Motor Company raised basic wages from $2.40 for a 9-hour day to $5 for an 8-hour day. In 1968, Alexander Dubcek came to power in Czechoslovakia, launching what is known as the "Prague Spring." In 1979, the Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh, ending the rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 2005, the dwarf planet Eris was discovered.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Walter Mondale (1928- ), former U.S. vice president, is 80; Umberto Eco (1929- ), author, is 79; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor, is 77; Juan Carlos (1938- ), king of Spain, is 70; Diane Keaton (1946- ), actress, is 62.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1957, Jackie Robinson retired from Major League Baseball, 23 days after being traded from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the New York Giants.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else." - Umberto Eco

TODAY'S FACT: The National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning when a storm has sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 miles an hour or more, and enough falling snow to cut visibility to under 1/4 mile for 3 hours.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,672 - number of performances of "The Wiz," Broadway's musical adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, at the Majestic Theatre in New York, after premiering this day in 1975.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the Negro National League, the first black professional baseball league, was established. In 1995, the 104th U.S. Congress convened with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time since the Eisenhower presidency. In 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke that prevented him from governing.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Isaac Newton (1642-1727), mathematician/physicist; Louis Braille (1809-1852), Braille alphabet inventor; King Camp Gillette (1855-1932), safety razor inventor; Jane Wyman (1914- ), actress, is 93; Floyd Patterson (1935- ), boxer, is 72; Dyan Cannon (1937- ), actress, is 70; Michael Stipe (1960- ), rock musician, is 47; Julia Ormond (1965- ), actress, is 42.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, 12-year-old Fu Mingxia from China won the women's 10-meter platform at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia, becoming the youngest aquatic world champion ever.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's easy to do anything in victory. It's in defeat that a man reveals himself." - Floyd Patterson

TODAY'S FACT: King Camp Gillette wanted to devise a new product that consumers would need to purchase repeatedly; his safety razors were one of the first and most successful disposable products ever made.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17 - number of Negro League and pre-Negro League members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1777, Revolutionary forces under the command of George Washington defeated the British at Princeton, NJ. In 1959, Alaska entered the union as the 49th state. In 2004, the unmanned NASA spacecraft Spirit landed on Mars.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Paul Jones (1747-1792), U.S. naval officer; Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), women's rights pioneer; J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), author; Victor Borge (1909-2000) comedian/pianist; Mel Gibson (1956- ), actor, is 52; Danica McKellar (1975- ), actress, is 33; Eli Manning (1981- ), football player, is 27.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett set an NFL record by running 99 yards from scrimmage for a touchdown.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth." - Lucretia Mott

TODAY'S FACT: In 2000, evidence that liquid water flowed on Mars was discovered, supporting the theory that life could exist on the Red Planet.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 670,053 - estimated population of the state of Alaska in July 2006--about triple its population at the time it attained statehood.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

"The Band is on the Field"
November 20, 1982: Univ. of California v. Stanford

With four seconds left on the clock, Stanford took the lead (20-19) with a field goal. On the last-second kickoff return California players charged down the field, as the Stanford marching band ran out to celebrate. California players shot five lateral passes, ending with Cal's Kevin Moen, who scored the game-winning touchdown by charging through the middle of the band--and knocking down Stanford trombone player Gary Tyrrell.

Of course, if you know anything about "The Play," you know that the legality of some of those laterals has been hotly contested over the years. Hit the links below for more exhaustive background and discussion of this crazy moment in college sports.

The Anatomy of a Miracle (Sports Illustrated, Sept. 1, 1983)
The Play Lives On (SportsIllustrated.com)
20 years later, 'The Play' a tough act to forget (Daily Vanguard, Nov. 11, 2002)
The Play: Bears Attack the Band (YouTube)

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1492, the Moors were driven out of Spain as Granada fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1893, former slave Frederick Douglass delivered an address at the Chicago World's Fair. In 1974, Pres. Richard Nixon signed legislation that required all states to institute a 55-mph highway speed limit or lose federal highway aid. In 2006, a methane gas explosion in a Sago, WV, coal mine trapped 13 miners, only 1 survived.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Tito Schipa (1888-1965), opera tenor; Sir Michael Tippett (1905-98), composer; Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), writer; Roger Miller (1936-1992), singer/songwriter; Jim Bakker (1939- ), former televangelist, is 69; J. Dennis Hastert (1942- ), former speaker of the U.S. House, is 66; Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1968- ), actor, is 40; Christy Turlington (1969- ), model, is 39; Taye Diggs (1971- ), actor/singer, is 37.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Miami upset heavily favored Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 31-30, as Nebraska failed on a two-point conversion at game's end.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." - Frederick Douglass

TODAY'S FACT: Frederick Douglass was the first African American to receive a vice presidential nomination, with the Equal Rights Party in 1872, but he neither campaigned for nor acknowledged it.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 466 - number of books written by Isaac Asimov, according to his memoir.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison launched publication of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing Confederate slaves, took effect. In 1892, the Ellis Island immigration station opened in New York City. In 1959, the Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista was overthrown by the rebel forces of Fidel Castro. In 2002, the Euro became the legal tender for all European Union member states.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Paul Revere (1735-1818), American patriot; E.M. Forster (1879-1970), novelist; J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), FBI chief; J.D. Salinger (1919- ), writer, is 89; Frank Langella (1940- ), actor, is 68; Grandmaster Flash (1958- ), hip hop performer, is 50; P.T. Anderson (1970- ), filmmaker, is 38.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1961, the Houston Oilers won the first American Football League championship, 24-16, against the Los Angeles Chargers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free." - Abraham Lincoln

TODAY'S FACT: Kathleen Casey Wilkins, considered the first of some 78 million postwar baby boomers, was born in Philadelphia, a minute after midnight on January 1, 1946.

TODAY'S NUMBER: 100 - number of light bulbs on the first-ever Times Square New Years Eve ball, made of iron and wood, dropped to celebrate the start of 1907.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter (December 31, 2007) and new moon (January 8, 2008).

This Day in History

1600: The English East India Company is granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I.
1879: Thomas Edison publicly demonstrates his electric incandescent light for the first time, in Menlo Park, NJ.
1961: The Marshall Plan, a U.S. aid program for post-World War II Europe, ends after distributing foreign aid worth some $12 billion.
1974: For the first time in more than 40 years, private citizens in the United States are allowed to buy and own gold.
1984: The United States leaves UNESCO.
1999: Boris Yeltsin officially resigns as Russia's president, handing over power to Vladimir Putin as acting president.
The U.S. surrenders control over the Panama Canal to Panama, in accordance with a treaty signed in 1977. The zone surrounding the canal had already been handed back in 1979.:

This Day in History

1732: Poor Richard's Almanack is published for the first time by Benjamin Franklin.
1832: John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president to resign.
1846: Iowa is admitted to the Union as the 29th state.
1945: Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
1981: The first American test-tube baby is born,in Norfolk, VA.
2001: Pres. George W. Bush formally grants China permanent normal trade status with the U.S.

This Day in History

1927: Leon Trotsky and his followers are expelled from the Communist Party by the Soviet Communist Congress. The musical Show Boat opens in New York.
1941: Rubber rationing begins in the United States.
1947: Howdy Doody, the first popular children's TV show, premieres.
1979: The Soviet Union Afghanistan.
2002: Four days after starting to reopen a plutonium processing plant, North Korea announces that it will expel all international inspectors from the country. Chechen rebels explode two bombs near the pro-Russian government offices in Grozny, killing at least 63.

This Day in History

1620: The Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower, land at Plymouth, MA.
1776: After staging a surprise attack, Gen. George Washington and his Continental Army defeat the Hessian mercenaries at the Battle of Trenton, NJ during the American Revolution.
1898: French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover the element radium.
1971: U.S. bombers begin a massive five-day campaign against North Vietnam, in retaliation for alleged violations of earlier agreements.
1991: The Soviet Union is officially broken up.
1996: In a case that draws national attention, 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey is found murdered in her basement in Boulder, CO.
2003: A horrific earthquake in the ancient Iranian city of Bam kills 41,000.
2004: An extremely powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggers a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that slams into the coastlines of a number of countries, killing at least 178,000 people. Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko defeats Premier Viktor Yanukovich in a repeat presidential runoff election.

This Day in History

800: Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III.
1776: Gen. George Washington and his troops, in Pennsylvania, begin to recross the Delaware River.
1868: Pres. Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to everyone involved in the South's rebellion against the Union.
1926: Hirohito becomes Japanese emperor.
1989: Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, ousted in an uprising, are executed after being tried and found guilty of genocide.
1991: In a nationally televised address, Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev announces his immediate resignation; shortly after his speech, the Soviet flag above the Kremlin is replaced by the flag of pre-revolutionary Russia.
2003: Pakistani Pres. Pervez Musharraf survives his second assassination attempt in two weeks when suicide bombers slam into his motorcade in Rawalpindi, killing 13 and injuring 40.

This Day in History

1798: The Second Coalition, a military alliance comprising a number of European empires and kingdoms, is formed to resist French revolutionary forces commanded by Napoleon.
1814: The Treaty of Ghent is signed by the United States and Britain, ending the War of 1812.
1865: The Ku Klux Klan is formed in Tennessee.
1920: Enrico Caruso, Italian dramatic tenor, gives the last performance of his career at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1941: Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Min. Winston Churchill meet in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategy for World War II.
1942: German engineer Werner von Braun launches the first surface-to-surface guided missile.
1951: King Idris I proclaims the independence of the federal United Kingdom of Libya.
1992: Pres. George Bush grants full pardons to former Defense Sec. Caspar Weinberger and 5 others for their alleged involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.
1994: Carlos "The Jackal," one of the world's most notorious terrorists , is sentenced to life in prison by a Paris court.

This Day in History

1777: During the American Revolution, the Continental Army establishes a camp at Valley Forge, PA.
1958: The satellite Atlas transmits the first radio voice broadcast from space, containing Christmas greetings from Pres. Dwight Eisenhower.
1984: Chinese Prem. Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Min. Margaret Thatcher sign an agreement granting China sovereignty over Hong Kong as of July 1, 1997.
1986: The Soviet Union releases dissidents Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner from internal exile in Gorky.
1998: The U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach Pres. Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with a cover-up of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
2002: U.S. Sec. of State Colin Powell declares Iraq to be in "material breach" of UN resolutions.
2003: After 9 months of secret talks, Pres. George W. Bush and British Prime Min. Tony Blair announce that Libyan Pres. Muammar al-Qaddafi has agree to eliminate his country's chemical, biological, and nuclear programs and to accept international inspections.
2004: Two car bombs explode about an hour apart in the southern Iraqi cities of Karbala and Najaf, killing about 70 people and wounding at least 175 more.

This Day in History

1787: New Jersey enters the Union as the third of the original 13 states.
1916: The longest battle of World War I, the Battle of Verdun, ends with 750,000 casualties.
1917: The 18th Amendment, establishing Prohibition, is submitted to the states by Congress.
1956: The UN General Assembly votes unanimously to admit Japan to the UN.
1961: Indian forces invade and annex the remaining Portuguese enclaves on the Indian subcontinent: Goa, Daman, and Diu.
1972: During the Vietnam War, full-scale bombing of North Vietnam resumes after Paris peace talks reach an impasse.
1996: In a controversial move, the Oakland, CA, school board recognizes black English as a distinct language.
1997: South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung is elected president.

This Day in History

1777: France recognizes the independence of the 13 American colonies.
1819: The republic of Colombia, consisting of Venezuela and New Granada (now Colombia ), is proclaimed, with independence leader Simón Bolívar as president.
1903: Orville and Wilbur Wright pilot the first successful flights of a heavier-than-air mechanically propelled airplane, at Kitty Hawk, NC.
1933: The Chicago Bears defeat the NY Giants in the first NFL championship football game, 23-21.
1992: The NAFTA trade agreement is signed by Pres. George Bush, Canadian Prime Min. Brian Mulroney, and Mexican Pres. Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

This Day in History

1773: To protest a British tax on tea, patriots dressed as Indians board a British vessel and throw 350 chests of tea overboard, in what becomes known as the Boston Tea Party.
1864: During the Civil War, Union troops defeat the Confederates at the Battle of Nashville, TN.
1944: At the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, the Germans launch an offensive in France's Ardennes Forest.
1991: The United Nations votes to revoke Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism.
2005: The New York Times reports that U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 secretly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop on people in the U.S. who were suspected of terrorist activities without first obtaining court-approved warrants.

This Day in History

1791: The Bill of Rights goes into effect after being ratified by Virginia.
1890: Sioux leader Sitting Bull is killed in a skirmish with U.S. soldiers.
1917: The new Bolshevik government in Russia signs an armistice with the German government.
1961: An Israeli court convicts Adolf Eichmann of war crimes committed during World War II.
1981: Javier Pérez de Cuéllar is sworn in as secretary general of the United Nations.
1983: The last U.S. troops leave Grenada, which they entered in October after a Marxist coup there.
2000: Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma officially decommissions the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986.
2005: Iraqi legislative elections give a group of Shiite Muslim religious parties the largest bloc of seats in the parliament.

This Day in History

1799: George Washington dies at Mount Vernon, VA, after an attack of acute laryngitis.
1819: Alabama is admitted to the Union as the 22d state.
1911: Norwegian Roald Amundsen, with 4 men and sled dogs, becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole.
1918: In Great Britain, women vote for the first time.
1981: Israel annexes the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967.
1993: In Geneva, Switzerland, representatives of 117 countries conclude the GATT treaty to reduce tariffs and eliminate trade quotas.
1995: The Dayton Peace Accords on Bosnia are formally signed in Paris, France. They divide Bosnia and Hercegovina into a Muslim-Croat federation (51%) and a Serb republic (49%), with Sarajevo as the national capital.
1999: The United States officially hands over control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

This Day in History

1545: The Council of Trent, an attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to respond to the Protestant Reformation, begins its meetings.
1577: Sir Francis Drake begins his voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
1862: During the Civil War, Confederate troops under Gen. Robert E. Lee defeat the Union at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1981: In Poland, the government decrees martial law and suspends the activities of the Solidarity labor union.
1991: North and South Korea sign a reconciliation and nonaggression pact, in their broadest accord since the 1953 armistice unofficially ending the Korean War.
2001: Five gunmen with links to Pakistani terror organizations open fire outside the Indian parliament building; 14 people, including the terrorists, are killed in the chaos. Pres. George W. Bush announces that the U.S. will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union.
2002: Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law resigns as archbishop of Boston amidst growing criticism for allegedly protecting priests accused of abusing minors.
2003: Deposed Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein is captured by U.S. forces in an underground hideout 9 miles from his hometown of Tikrit.

This Day in History

1787: Pennsylvania enters the Union as the second state.
1870: Joseph Rainey of South Carolina is sworn in, becoming the first black in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1913: Italian authorities announce that the Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre in Paris in 1911, has been recovered.
1917: Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town in Omaha, NE.
1963: Kenya's independence is proclaimed.
1985: Pres. Ronald Reagan signs the Gramm-Rudman bill to reduce the federal budget deficit. An Arrow Air charter airplane crashes after taking off from Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256 people, including 248 American soldiers.:
2000: The Supreme Court ends the 5-week U.S. presidential election deadlock by voting 5-4 to block further recounts in the contested Florida election, giving the election to Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.
2001: Prosecutors charge French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui in connection with the terrorist attacks of September 11 .
2002: The European Union opens its doors to 10 new members — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta — who are to join in 2004.
2003: Liberal Party leader Paul Martin becomes Canada's 21st prime minister.

This Day in History

1816: Indiana is admitted to the Union as the 19th state.
1936: Britain's King Edward VIII abdicates so that he can marry twice-divorced American Wallis Warfield Simpson.
1941: The United States declares war on Germany and Italy.
1946: UNICEF is established by the UN General Assembly.
1997: Representatives of more than 150 countries, at a global warming summit in Kyoto, Japan, approve an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This Day in History

1712: The last issue of the Spectator, an influential 18th-century journal written by English essayists Sir Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, appears.
1790: Philadelphia becomes the U.S. capital, succeeding New York City. (It remains the nation's capital until Washington, D.C., takes on the function in 1800.)
1865: The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery.
1917: Much of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is destroyed by a tidal wave caused when 2 ships, 1 loaded with explosives, collide in Halifax Harbor.
1969: A free rock concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, CA, ends with the fatal stabbing of a fan by a member of Hell's Angels, who were hired as security guards.
1973: Gerald Ford is sworn in as vice president, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.
1997: In a runoff election, Lee Brown is elected the first black mayor of Houston, TX.

This Day in History

1712: The last issue of the Spectator, an influential 18th-century journal written by English essayists Sir Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, appears.
1790: Philadelphia becomes the U.S. capital, succeeding New York City. (It remains the nation's capital until Washington, D.C., takes on the function in 1800.)
1865: The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery.
1917: Much of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is destroyed by a tidal wave caused when 2 ships, 1 loaded with explosives, collide in Halifax Harbor.
1969: A free rock concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, CA, ends with the fatal stabbing of a fan by a member of Hell's Angels, who were hired as security guards.
1973: Gerald Ford is sworn in as vice president, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.
1997: In a runoff election, Lee Brown is elected the first black mayor of Houston, TX.

This Day in History

1492: Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the New World, lands on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
1775: The first Phi Beta Kappa chapter is founded, at the College of William and Mary.
1933: Prohibition ends with the ratification of the 21st Amendment, repealing the 18th Amendment.
1955: The AFL-CIO is created by the merger of the nation's 2 largest labor organizations, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
1978: The U.S. spacecraft Pioneer Venus 1 reaches Venus and begins mapping its surface.
1988: Evangelist Jim Bakker and a top aide are indicted for defrauding contributors to his PTL ministry.
1994: The START I Treaty, reducing the number of nuclear warheads held by the U.S. and the USSR by about 25 percent, comes into force.
1996: Pres. Bill Clinton announces his choice of Madeleine Albright as secretary of state, making her the highest-ranking woman government official in U.S. history.
2003: A Chechen suicide bomber kills 45 and injures more than 150 on a commuter train in Yessentuki, Russia.

This Day in History

1783: Gen. George Washington bids farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.
1961: Floyd Patterson retains the world heavyweight boxing title by knocking out Tom McNeeley.
1991: Journalist Terry Anderson becomes the last U.S. hostage freed in Lebanon.
1997: Representatives of 121 nations conclude a meeting in Ottawa, Canada at which they sign a treaty banning the use and manufacture of land mines.
2001: The Israeli military advances to within 200 yards of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's Ramallah headquarters two days after a suicide bomber killed himself and 15 others in Haifa.

This Day in History

1818: Illinois is admitted to the Union as the 21st state.
1901: U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt outlines a number of measures designed to secure a greater measure of social justice in his first message to Congress.
1967: Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa.
1971: India intervenes militarily to end Pakistan's attempt to keep West Pakistan (now Bangladesh ) from becoming independent.
1973: The unmanned spacecraft Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter.
1984: Deadly gas leaks from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring 200,000.
1992: The UN Security Council votes to send troops to Somalia, stricken by famine.

This Day in History

1918: U.S. and British troops begin occupying Germany following the end of World War I.
1933: In Germany, a law is enacted by which the Nazi party is "indissolubly joined to the state."
1943: The U.S. government releases a joint communiqué signed by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, in which they declare the determination of their governments to prosecute the war until Japan surrenders unconditionally. Gasoline rationing begins in the United States.
1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, AL. She is arrested, triggering boycotts against racial segregation.
1957: After years of political turmoil in Colombia, a plebiscite approves the plan of the Liberal and Conservative parties to share all government offices equally for 12 years.
1959: Twelve nations sign a treaty to make Antarctica a scientific preserve free of military activity.
1997: Representatives of more than 150 nations begin meeting in Kyoto, Japan, to consider a treaty limiting the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
2000: Vicente Fox Quesada, a conservative reformer, is inaugurated as president in Mexico, ending more than seven decades of rule by the PRI party.

This Day in History

1782: Provisional articles of peace are signed in Paris between Britain and the United States, under which Britain recognizes U.S. independence.
1864: During the Civil War, the Confederates suffer a costly defeat in the Battle of Franklin, TN.
1939: The Soviet Union invades Finland.
1959: Boxer Floyd Patterson knocks out Archie Moore to take the WBA heavyweight crown.
1966: Barbados, an island in the West Indies, becomes independent.
1993: The Brady Bill, a major gun-control measure, is signed into law by Pres. Bill Clinton.

Born February 15, 1892 in Matteawan (now Beacon), NY, Forrestal attended Dartmouth, and later Princeton, but left prior to completing his degree. He served as a naval flier during World War I. In 1916, Forrestal joined an investment banking house as a bond salesman, and over the next 24 years he rose in the company becoming a partner, vice president, and then president in 1937.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Forrestal (who, following World War I had worked as a publicist for Democratic candidates), a special administrative assistant in 1940, and six weeks later appointed him undersecretary of the navy, where he headed naval procurement and production. Forrestal became secretary of the navy, following the death of his boss Frank Knox in 1944, guiding the department in the last year of the war, and after the Japanese surrender. Although he fought the unification of the Army and Navy departments, he helped shape the National Security Act of 1947, an act that weakened what would later be the department of defense (August 1949), which ironically he became head of.

During his period as secretary of defense, the Soviet Union blocked access to West Berlin, necessitating the Berlin Airlift, Communist governments took over China and Czechoslovakia, and war broke out between Arab and Israeli armies following the proclamation of the Israeli state in 1948. Internally, there were many problems with President Truman, over budgets and power, and Truman forced Forrestal to resign on March 28, 1949. Suffering physical and mental exhaustion, he entered Bethesda Naval Hospital, and leapt to his death from a 16th-floor window on May 22. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with military honors.

November 30 is the anniversary of the 1835 birth of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known pseudonymously as the celebrated writer and humorist Mark Twain. (Fun fact: Mark Twain was Clemens's second pen name. I personally prefer his first: Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.)

Twain was one of the most quoted—and misquoted—personalities in American history (second only to Abraham Lincoln, according to Ralph Keyes, author of The Quote Verifier). Among the aphorisms misattributed to Twain: "Golf is a good walk spoiled"; "It is very easy to give up smoking. I've done it hundreds of times"; and "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."

However, Twain can be properly credited with saying, "Man is the only animal who blushes. Or needs to," and "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

Samuel Clemens died in 1910; both his birth and death were marked by the appearance of Halley's Comet, about which he said, as quoted in his 1909 biography:

"I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: "Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together."

There are quite a few great Mark Twain resources on the web; one of the best, listed below, was created in tandem with the Ken Burns film and includes links to video and audio as well as a ton of letters and other primary sources.

Mark Twain Scrapbook

"It's been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."

It seemed to be a favorite quip for Reagan, who said some version of it on several occasions since at least 1974 when he was governor of California. But I also found other politicians, including President Jimmy Carter, saying it. Curious about how long the joke had been around, I did a search through some newspaper archives for the phrase "second oldest profession." It seems that writers had been placing various jobs in that dubious position for years, but politics wasn't one of them.

Nominees for the Second Oldest Profession
• Actors - "Hobnobbing in Hollywood with Grace Kingsley" Los Angeles Times, Nov 23, 1932
• Casino Gambling - "Mont Blanc of Monte Carlo; Count Corti Tells the Story of the Principality of Chance" The Washington Post, Mar 17, 1935
• Con Men - "Berliners, Who Fell for Hitler, Still Victims of 'Con' Men" The Washington Post, Mar 15, 1952
• Counterfeiting - "Counterfeiting in America Started With Fake Wampum" Los Angeles Times, Apr 18, 1968
• Gigolos - "Exit the Gigolo! His Taking Ways Remove Glamour; Paris 'Tribe' Vanishing; Too Light Fingered" Chicago Daily Tribune, Mar 5, 1932
• Glassmaking - "Lenox Unveils Modern Glassmaking Facility With Old Techniques" Wall Street Journal, Nov 20, 1970
• Interpreters - "Meet the Second Oldest Profession" The Washington Post, Sep 1, 1964
• Journalism - a novel by Robert Sylvester, published 1950
• Moving Companies - "New Holding Company on the Move" Los Angeles Times, Feb 12, 1969
• Pharmacists - "The Second Oldest Profession" Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct 10, 1959 (mentioned again in the New York Times, Nov 17, 1963)
• Pick Pocketing - "Bookkeepers Pen Death of Pickpockets" Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug 25, 1958
• Pimpery - "The Bookshelf; 'Pimpery'" The Chicago Defender, Apr 18, 1931
• Piracy - "Prominent in a Remarkable Exhibition of Pirate Lore in the Grolier Club of New York" The Washington Post, Nov 21, 1915.
• Press Agents - "R. Maney [Dick Maney], Man and Legend" New York Times, Feb 23, 1941
• Prostitutes (Confusing, yes. According to Yale anthropologist Ralph Linton in The Tree of Culture, Medicine Men were the first professionals.)
• Spying - "British Premier Backs U.S. in Spy Incident" Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1960
• Quackery aka Fake Medicine - "Quick-Buck Quacks Are Prospering More Than Ever" The Washington Post, Oct 7, 1961

As for politics, interestingly, no results turned up earlier than the 1970s and The Consent of the Governed, and Other Deceits (1971), written by New York Times political analyst Arthur Krock, has a chapter titled "The Second Oldest Profession."

Street walkers, etched by B. Smith, from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog

This Day in History

1916: U.S. Marines occupy the Dominican Republic.
1929: Richard E. Byrd and Brent Balchen pilot the first flight over the South Pole.
1945: The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared by the Communist-dominated constituent assembly, abolishing the monarchy.
1947: The partition of Palestine is approved by the United Nations.
1963: Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
1989: Communist rule ends in Czechoslovakia when parliament votes unanimously to end the Communist Party's guaranteed leading role.

This Day in History

1520: Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan finds the westward route to Asia from Europe by rounding South America and entering the Pacific.
1912: Albanian patriots led by Ismail Qemal proclaim the country's independence.
1916: During World War I, the first German airplane raid on London takes place.
1943: The Tehran Conference begins in Iran, with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin discussing plans for the Allied invasion of Europe.
1960: Mauritania becomes independent.
1964: The unmanned Mariner 4 mission to Mars is launched from Cape Kennedy.
1995: Pres. Bill Clinton signs a measure repealing the federal 55-mph speed limit.
1995: British Prime Min. John Major and Irish Prime Min. John Bruton announce an agreement aimed at restarting talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
2000: After three months of the latest Palestinian intifada, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak dissolves the government and calls for new elections.
2001: Enron Corp., the largest U.S. energy trading company, collapses after smaller rival Dynegy backs out of a planned merger; employees and investors will lose billions of dollars as a result. The collapse is the first in a series of huge corporate scandals.
2002: 10 Kenyans and 3 Israelis are killed as three suicide bombers attack an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, minutes after assailants with shoulder-fired missiles narrowly miss an Israeli jumbo-jet leaving the Mombasa airport.
2005: The government of Canadian Prime Min. Paul Martin is ousted by a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons.