Today is the 75th day of 2014 and the 86th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, U.S. military forces declared the island of Iwo Jima secure after 25 days of fighting.

In 1968, U.S. Army soldiers massacred more than 300 civilians in the My Lai village in South Vietnam.

In 1988, Lt. Col. Oliver North and Vice Adm. John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy during the Iran-Contra affair.

In 1998, mass trials began in Rwanda for roughly 125,000 suspected perpetrators of the country's 1994 genocide.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: James Madison (1751-1836), fourth U.S. president; Henny Youngman (1906-1998), comedian; Pat Nixon (1912-1993), former first lady; Jerry Lewis (1926- ), comedian; Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), U.S. senator; Chuck Woolery (1941- ), game show host; Erik Estrada (1949- ), actor; Nancy Wilson (1954- ), singer-songwriter; Ozzie Newsome (1956- ), football player/executive; Gore Verbinski (1964- ), filmmaker; Lauren Graham (1967- ), actress; Blake Griffin (1989- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: World War I pitted three first cousins -- Great Britain's King George V, Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II and Russia's Czar Nicholas II -- against one another.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to hindering the investigation into the conspiracy to attack rival Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood." -- James Madison

TODAY'S NUMBER: 400 -- current inhabitants (all Japanese soldiers) of the island formerly known as Iwo Jima. Japan formally reverted to the island's prewar name, Iwo To, in June 2007, prompted by the release of the Clint Eastwood movies "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Flags of Our Fathers" earlier that year.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (March 16).

Today is the 74th day of 2014 and the 85th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 44 B.C., Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus.

In 1820, Maine was admitted as the 23rd U.S. state.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson sent 4,800 U.S. troops into Mexico to capture revolutionary Pancho Villa.

In 1985, the computer manufacturing company Symbolics registered the first Internet domain name.

In 1989, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs succeeded the Veterans Administration.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), seventh U.S. president; Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933- ), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Judd Hirsch (1935- ), actor; Phil Lesh (1940- ), musician; Sly Stone (1943- ), singer-songwriter; Bobby Bonds (1946-2003), baseball player; Mike Tomlin (1972- ), football coach; Eva Longoria (1975- ), actress; will.i.am (1975- ), rapper/record producer.

TODAY'S FACT: The salary of the chief justice of the United States was $4,000 in 1789. Chief Justice John Roberts' salary is currently $217,400.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1962, the NBA's Wilt Chamberlain became the first and only player to score 4,000 points in a single season.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error." -- Andrew Jackson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2 -- Ranking of "The Godfather," which opened this day in 1972, on the 2007 edition of the American Film Institute's best American movies list. Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" ranked No. 1.

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

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).