Today is the second day of 2013 and the 13th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1492, the Moors were driven out of Spain as Granada fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella.

In 1974, President 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, W.Va., coal mine trapped 13 miners. Only one survived.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998), composer; Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), writer; Roger Miller (1936-1992), singer/songwriter; Tia Carrere (1967- ), actress; Cuba Gooding Jr. (1968- ), actor; Christy Turlington (1969- ), model; Taye Diggs (1971- ), actor; Dax Shepard (1975- ), actor; Kate Bosworth (1983- ), actress.

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 FACT: Castillian Spanish is the official language of Spain, but Catalan, Galician and Basque are all official regional languages.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Literature is my utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised." -- Helen Keller

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 28) and last quarter moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the first day of 2013 and the 12th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing slaves in Confederate states.

In 1892, the Ellis Island immigration station opened in New York City.

In 1962, the Republic of China was established.

In 1994, provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Paul Revere (1735-1818), American patriot; E.M. Forster (1879-1970), novelist; J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), FBI director; J.D. Salinger (1919-2010), writer; Frank Langella (1938- ), actor; Grandmaster Flash (1958- ), musician.

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

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

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

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1.25 million -- people processed through the Ellis Island immigration station in 1907, the peak year for immigration to the United States.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 28) and last quarter moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the 366th day of 2012 and the 11th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1759, the first Guinness brewery was founded in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed a bill admitting West Virginia into the United States.

In 1879, Thomas Edison staged the first public demonstration of the electric light bulb.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henri Matisse (1869-1954), artist; George C. Marshall (1880-1959), U.S. military commander/diplomat; Anthony Hopkins (1937- ), actor; John Denver (1943-1997), singer/songwriter; Ben Kingsley (1943- ), actor; Diane von Furstenberg (1946- ), fashion designer; Donna Summer (1948-2012), singer; Bebe Neuwirth (1958- ), actress; Val Kilmer (1959- ), actor; Nicholas Sparks (1965- ), writer; Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas (1995- ), gymnast.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, in subzero weather. The game became known as the "Ice Bowl."

TODAY'S FACT: West Virginia, a new state created from Virginia counties that chose not to secede from the Union, was originally named Kanawha, after the Kanawha River.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The artist begins with a vision -- a creative operation requiring effort. Creativity takes courage." -- Henri Matisse

TODAY'S NUMBER: 3,987 -- length in miles of the border between Canada and the lower 48 states.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 28) and last quarter moon (Jan. 4).