Today is the 73rd day of 2014 and the 84th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1794, inventor Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin.

In 1900, the Gold Standard Act was signed into law by President William McKinley.

In 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation instituted the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush banned the importation of assault rifles.

In 1990, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: George Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), composer; Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1844-1881), poet; Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist/Nobel Prize winner; Hank Ketcham (1920-2001), cartoonist; Diane Arbus (1923-1971), photographer; Michael Caine (1933- ), actor; Quincy Jones (1933- ), record producer; Wolfgang Petersen (1941- ), filmmaker; Billy Crystal (1948- ), actor/comedian; Kirby Puckett (1960-2006), baseball player; Jamie Bell (1986- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Albert Einstein was offered the Israeli presidency after the death of the country's first president in 1952, but Einstein declined, saying he was not suited for the position.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, the AFL and NFL held their first common draft of college football players. The Baltimore Colts selected defensive tackle Bubba Smith of Michigan State with the first pick.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -- Albert Einstein

TODAY'S NUMBER: 79 -- record number of Grammy nominations for producer Quincy Jones.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (March 8) and full moon (March 16).

Today is the 72nd day of 2014 and the 83rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, German-born astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

In 1865, the Confederacy approved the use of slave troops against the Union armies.

In 1925, a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution went into effect in Tennessee.

In 1942, the U.S. Army began training dogs for the newly launched War Dog Program, also known as the K-9 Corps.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Percival Lowell (1855-1916), astronomer; Walter Annenberg (1908-2002), publisher/philanthropist; L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), author/Church of Scientology founder; Al Jaffee (1921- ), cartoonist; Neil Sedaka (1939- ), singer-songwriter; William H. Macy (1950- ), actor; Dana Delany (1956- ), actress; Common (1972- ), rapper/actor; Johan Santana (1979- ), baseball player; Emile Hirsch (1985- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The 27 known moons of Uranus are named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1915, Brooklyn Base Ball Club manager Wilbert Robinson was the victim of a prank when he attempted to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane during spring training in Daytona Beach, Fla. Robinson's players convinced the pilot to drop a grapefruit instead, which exploded on impact during Robinson's attempted catch.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Freedom is for honest people. No man who is not himself honest can be free -- he is his own trap." -- L. Ron Hubbard

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14.5 -- length in miles of the undersea portion of the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, the longest and deepest operational rail tunnel in the world, which opened this day in 1988.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (March 8) and full moon (March 16).

Today is the 71st day of 2014 and the 82nd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1912, the Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in Savannah, Ga.

In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and more than 70 supporters began a 240-mile march protesting the British salt tax.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman introduced the "Truman Doctrine," a policy that provided military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to prevent the spread of communism.

In 2002, the U.N. Security Council approved Resolution 1397, endorsing the creation of a Palestinian state.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989), artist/critic; Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), author; Edward Albee (1928- ), playwright; Andrew Young (1932- ) activist/politician; Liza Minnelli (1946- ), actress/singer; Mitt Romney (1947- ), politician; James Taylor (1948- ), singer-songwriter; Carl Hiaasen (1953- ), author; Darryl Strawberry (1962- ), baseball player; Aaron Eckhart (1968- ), actor; Jaimie Alexander (1984- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Former President Harry S. Truman was the holder of Medicare card No. 1, which President Lyndon Johnson symbolically presented to Truman on the passing of Medicare legislation in 1965.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1966, Bobby Hull scored his 51st goal, becoming the first NHL player to tally more than 50 goals in a season and leading his Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A painting to me is primarily a verb, not a noun, an event first and only secondarily an image." -- Elaine de Kooning

TODAY'S NUMBER: $18 billion -- losses suffered by investors in the massive Ponzi scheme perpetuated by stockbroker Bernie Madoff, who pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies on this day in 2009.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (March 8) and full moon (March 16).