Today is the seventh day of 2013 and the 18th day of winter.

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 perform there.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court's 99th and 100th justices, Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist, were sworn in.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), 13th U.S. president; Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), writer; Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), composer; Charles Addams (1912-1988), cartoonist; David Caruso (1956- ), actor; Katie Couric (1957- ), TV news anchor; Nicolas Cage (1964- ), actor; Jeremy Renner (1971- ), actor; John Rich (1974- ), musician; Francisco Rodriguez (1982- ), baseball player.

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

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

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." -- Zora Neale Hurston

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.5 hours -- length of the first balloon trip across the English Channel, which crossed at the channel's narrowest point (21 miles).

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Jan. 4) and new moon (Jan. 11).

Today is the sixth day of 2013 and the 17th day of winter.

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 United States as the 47th state.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the "Four Freedoms" in a speech to Congress.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joan of Arc (1412-1431), French saint; Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet; Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), poet/novelist; Danny Thomas (1912-1991), actor/comedian; Loretta Young (1913-2000), actress; Rowan Atkinson (1955- ), actor/comedian; Howie Long (1960- ), football player/broadcaster; John Singleton (1968- ), filmmaker; Asante Samuel (1981- ), football player.

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

TODAY'S FACT: Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" outlined his principal goals for the world: freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from want and fear.

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

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Jan. 4) and new moon (Jan. 11).

Today is the fifth day of 2013 and the 16th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, British forces led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold captured and burned Richmond, Va.

In 1914, Ford Motor Co. raised basic wages from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day.

In 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay.

In 2005, the dwarf planet Eris was discovered.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: King Camp Gillette (1855-1932), safety razor inventor; Jane Wyman (1917-2007), actress; Walter Mondale (1928- ), former U.S. vice president; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor; Umberto Eco (1932- ), writer; Juan Carlos (1938- ), king of Spain; Diane Keaton (1946- ), actress; Bradley Cooper (1975- ), actor; January Jones (1978- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Pete Rose admitted to gambling on baseball games while serving as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

TODAY'S FACT: King Camp Gillette invented safety razors, a new product that consumers would need to purchase repeatedly. His razors were one of the first disposable products ever made.

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 NUMBER: 1,672 -- performances of "The Wiz," an adaptation of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," at the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre in New York, after premiering this day in 1975.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Jan. 4) and new moon (Jan. 11).