Today is the 13th day of 2014 and the 24th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1898, French writer Emile Zola's editorial "J'accuse" was printed in the newspaper L'Aurore, exposing the military cover-up known as the Dreyfus Affair.

In 1942, the Allies announced they would prosecute war criminals after World War II.

In 1990, Virginian L. Douglas Wilder became the first elected African-American governor.

In 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Horatio Alger (1832-1899), author; Sophie Tucker (1884-1966), singer; Robert Stack (1919-2003), actor; Gwen Verdon (1925-2000), dancer/actress; Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007), actor; Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961- ), actress; Trace Adkins (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Patrick Dempsey (1966- ), actor; Orlando Bloom (1977- ), actor; Nate Silver (1978- ), statistician; Liam Hemsworth (1990- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Emile Zola is buried in the Pantheon necropolis in Paris, along with Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Marie Curie, Louis Braille and other French luminaries.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1999, Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan retired from the NBA for the second time. He would return to the NBA for a third and final stint in 2001.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way." -- Emile Zola

TODAY'S NUMBER: 21 -- Nazi leaders who were tried at Nuremberg for war crimes following World War II.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 7) and full moon (Jan. 15).

Today is the 12th day of 2014 and the 23rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote.

In 1932, Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to the Senate.

In 1991, a divided Congress authorized President George H.W. Bush to use force in expelling Iraq from Kuwait.

In 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti destroyed a majority of the buildings in Port-au-Prince and left more than 100,000 dead.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jack London (1876-1916), author; Tex Ritter (1905-1974), singer/actor; Joe Frazier (1944-2011), boxer; Tom Dempsey (1947- ), football player; Kirstie Alley (1951- ), actress; Rush Limbaugh (1951- ), radio personality; Howard Stern (1954- ), radio personality; Christiane Amanpour (1958- ), TV journalist; Jeff Bezos (1964- ), Amazon.com founder; Rob Zombie (1965- ), singer-songwriter/director; Jason and Randy Sklar (1972- ), comedians/sportscasters; Naya Rivera (1987- ), actress.

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

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, the New York Jets fulfilled quarterback Joe Namath's guarantee of a win with a 16-7 victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist." -- Jack London

TODAY'S NUMBER: 20 -- women in the U.S. Senate at the start of the 113th Congress in 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 7) and full moon (Jan. 15).

Today is the 11th day of 2014 and the 22nd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1908, President 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 Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of an unprecedented 156 death row inmates.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804), U.S. statesman; William James (1842-1910), philosopher/psychologist; Rod Taylor (1930- ), actor; Jean Chretien (1934- ), Canadian politician; Naomi Judd (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Mary J. Blige (1971- ), singer-songwriter; Amanda Peet (1972- ), actress.

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 SPORTS: In 1973, Major League Baseball owners voted in approval of a 10th lineup position for American League rosters, allowing a "designated pinch-hitter" to bat for the pitcher while allowing the pitcher to stay in the game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook." -- William James

TODAY'S NUMBER: 159,480 -- estimated number of American lung cancer deaths in 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 7) and full moon (Jan. 15).