Today is the 40th day of 2014 and the 51st day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1950, during a speech in West Virginia, Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin claimed to have a list of more than 200 "known communists" serving in the State Department.

In 1964, the Beatles made their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1968, the first U.S. combat troops were sent to South Vietnam.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), ninth U.S. president; Ronald Colman (1891-1958), actor; Brendan Behan (1923-1964), playwright; Roger Mudd (1928- ), TV journalist; Carole King (1942- ), singer-songwriter; Joe Pesci (1943- ), actor; Alice Walker (1944- ), author; Mia Farrow (1945- ), actress; Charlie Day (1976- ), actor; Tom Hiddleston (1981- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Some 45.3 percent of all U.S. television-owning households tuned in to see the Beatles' TV debut in America on "The Ed Sullivan Show." It was then the highest-rated TV telecast and is still the 26th-highest rated of all time.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed." -- William Henry Harrison

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Feb. 6) and full moon (Feb. 14).

Today is the 39th day of 2014 and the 50th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed on suspicion of plotting to murder her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

In 1915, D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" premiered in Los Angeles with the title "The Clansman."

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law, leading to a drastic overhaul of U.S. media regulations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), U.S. general; Jules Verne (1828-1905), author; Lana Turner (1921-1995), actress; Jack Lemmon (1925-2001), actor; James Dean (1931-1955), actor; Ted Koppel (1940- ), journalist; Nick Nolte (1941- ), actor; Mary Steenburgen (1953- ), actress; John Grisham (1955- ), author; Gary Coleman (1968-2010), actor; Mary McCormack (1969- ), actress; Seth Green (1974- ), actor/producer.

TODAY'S FACT: The first movie ever to be screened privately at the White House was "The Birth of a Nation," which Woodrow Wilson viewed in 1915.

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

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth." -- Jules Verne, "A Journey to the Center of the Earth"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.78 million -- youth membership of the Boy Scouts of America in 2012.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Feb. 6) and full moon (Feb. 14).

Today is the 38th day of 2014 and the 49th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1904, the Great Fire of Baltimore began, resulting in the destruction of more than 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

In 1917, a German U-boat sank the British ship California off the Irish coast.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy imposed a near-total embargo on all trade between the United States and Cuba.

In 1964, the "British Invasion" began as the Beatles arrived in New York for their first U.S. tour.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Deere (1804-1886), businessman; Charles Dickens (1812-1870), author; Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), author; Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), author/playwright; Eubie Blake (1887-1983), composer/pianist; Pete Postlethwaite (1946-2011), actor; James Spader (1960- ), actor; Garth Brooks (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Eddie Izzard (1962- ), actor/comedian; Chris Rock (1965- ), actor/comedian; Steve Nash (1974- ), basketball player; Ashton Kutcher (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Baltimore's population was 620,961 in the 2010 census, making it the 19th-largest city in the United States.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, Diane Crump became the first female jockey to ride in a thoroughbred race in the United States at the Hialeah Park race track in Florida.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart." -- Charles Dickens, "Master Humphrey's Clock"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 177 million -- albums sold by the Beatles, as certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Feb. 6) and full moon (Feb. 14).