Today is the 20th day of 2013 and the 31st day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1841, China ceded the island of Hong Kong to the British.

In 1885, LaMarcus Thompson patented the first roller coaster.

In 1981, the Iran hostage crisis ended as 52 American captives were released in Tehran, just after President Jimmy Carter left office.

In 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African-American president.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: George Burns (1896-1996), comedian; Federico Fellini (1920-1993), film director; Patricia Neal (1926-2010), actress; Buzz Aldrin (1930- ), astronaut; David Lynch (1946- ), director; Rainn Wilson (1968- ), actor; Ahmir Thompson aka Questlove (1971- ), musician.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1892, the first official basketball game was played in Springfield, Mass. The two nine-man teams used a soccer ball and peach baskets.

TODAY'S FACT: Digital music sales accounted for 50.3 percent of total music sales in 2011, surpassing physical music sales for the first time.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights invented America." -- Jimmy Carter

TODAY'S NUMBER: 444 -- days the hostages were held in the U.S. embassy in Iran.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 18) and full moon (Jan. 26).

Today is the 19th day of 2013 and the 30th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, William Pitt became the youngest prime minister in British history at age 24.

In 1966, Indira Gandhi became India's first woman prime minister.

In 1977, snow fell in Miami for the first time in recorded history.

In 2004, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts won the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses. Howard Dean finished third and gave an overly enthusiastic and much-maligned concession speech.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), Confederate general; Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), short-story writer/poet; Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), artist; Tippi Hedren (1930- ), actress; Janis Joplin (1943-1970), singer; Dolly Parton (1946- ), singer; Paula Deen (1947- ), TV personality; Shawn Johnson (1992- ), gymnast; Logan Lerman (1992- ), actor.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, the Notre Dame men's basketball team defeated UCLA, snapping the Bruins' 88-game winning streak.

TODAY'S FACT: Robert E. Lee's U.S. citizenship was posthumously reinstated by an act of Congress in 1975.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." -- Edgar Allan Poe

TODAY'S NUMBER: 24.6 -- percentage of the population of Texas that does not have health insurance (higher than any other U.S state).

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 18) and full moon (Jan. 26).

Today is the 18th day of 2013 and the 29th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, English settlers landed in Australia to establish a penal colony.

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.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), political philosopher; Daniel Webster (1782-1852), statesman/orator; A.A. Milne (1882-1956), children's author; Cary Grant (1904-1986), actor; Danny Kaye (1913-1987), entertainer; Kevin Costner (1955- ), actor; Mark Messier (1961- ), hockey player; Jason Segel (1980- ), actor.

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 FACT: The United Nations designated 11 convict sites in Australia -- used as prisons by the British empire in the 18th and 19th centuries -- as World Heritage Sites in 2010.

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

TODAY'S NUMBER: 139,797 -- square miles of Pacific Ocean encompassed by the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, designated by President Bush in June 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Jan. 18).