Today is the 56th day of 2014 and the 67th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Samuel Colt received the patent for his revolving-cylinder pistol.

In 1901, J.P. Morgan incorporated the United States Steel Corporation.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to levy income taxes, went into effect.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense agreement between Central and Eastern European communist states, was declared disbanded.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), artist; Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), opera singer; John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), diplomat; Zeppo Marx (1901-1979), actor; Bobby Riggs (1918-1995), tennis player; Ralph Stanley (1927- ), musician; Sally Jessy Raphael (1935- ), TV personality; George Harrison (1943-2001), singer-songwriter; Jack Handey (1949- ), humorist; Sean Astin (1971- ), actor; Chelsea Handler (1975- ), comedian; Rashida Jones (1976- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Pierre-Auguste Renoir continued to paint in his later years, despite being wheelchair-bound and suffering from such severe rheumatoid arthritis that he could not pick up a brush on his own. An assistant had to place the brush in Renoir's hand.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston in a stunning upset to win the heavyweight boxing crown. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali the following week.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A man's accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail." -- John Foster Dulles

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,060 -- pairs of shoes notoriously left behind by Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos when she and her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, were forced to flee the country on this day in 1986.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 22) and new moon (March 1).

Today is the 55th day of 2014 and the 66th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Colonel William Travis issued a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo in San Antonio.

In 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson.

In 1903, the United States acquired a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

In 2008, Fidel Castro's brother Raul Castro was officially named president by Cuba's parliament.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), author; Winslow Homer (1836-1910), artist; George A. Moore (1852-1933), poet/dramatist; Honus Wagner (1874-1955), baseball player; Abe Vigoda (1921- ), actor; Dominic Chianese (1931- ), actor; Phil Knight (1938- ), business magnate; Joseph Lieberman (1942- ), U.S. senator; Edward James Olmos (1947- ), actor; Steve Jobs (1955-2011), computer pioneer; Paula Zahn (1956- ), TV journalist; Billy Zane (1966- ), actor; Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005), comedian; Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1977- ), boxer.

TODAY'S FACT: Andrew Johnson was the only U.S. senator from a Southern state to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?" -- George A. Moore

TODAY'S NUMBER: $1 -- annual salary Steve Jobs received as CEO of Apple Inc. (He made up for it with Apple stock options.)

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 22) and new moon (March 1).

Today is the 54th day of 2014 and the 65th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1778, Baron von Steuben joined the U.S. encampment at Valley Forge.

In 1945, American Marines raised the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima.

In 1954, the first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced the beginning of an allied ground offensive in Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), diarist/British naval official; George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), composer; W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), author/activist; Tom Osborne (1937- ), football coach; Peter Fonda (1940- ), actor; Michael Dell (1965- ), businessman; Neal McDonough (1966- ), actor; Aziz Ansari (1983- ), actor/comedian; Emily Blunt (1983- ), actress; Skylar Grey (1986- ), singer-songwriter; Dakota Fanning (1994- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: A group of buzzards is called a "wake." A group of finches is called a "charm."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, the city of Chicago gave the Cubs baseball team permission to install lights at Wrigley Field and begin hosting night games.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork, not simply for pay; the thinker must think for truth, not for fame." -- W.E.B. Du Bois

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6,825 -- American soldiers who died taking Iwo Jima in 1945.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 22) and new moon (March 1).