Today is the 364th day of 2014 and the 10th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1853, the United States completed the Gadsden Purchase, establishing the border with Mexico.

In 1916, a group of Russian aristocrats carried out the murder of Rasputin, private adviser to the ruling Romanov family.

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially established.

In 2006, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), writer; Bo Diddley (1928-2008), singer-songwriter; Sandy Koufax (1935- ), baseball player; Davy Jones (1945-2012), singer; Patti Smith (1946- ) singer-songwriter; Meredith Vieira (1953- ), TV journalist; Matt Lauer (1957- ), TV journalist; Tracey Ullman (1959- ), actress/comedian; Sean Hannity (1961- ), TV host; Tiger Woods (1975- ), pro golfer; Tyrese Gibson (1978- ), singer/actor; Eliza Dushku (1980- ), actress; LeBron James (1984- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The geographical center of the United States lies 17 miles west of Castle Rock, South Dakota. The center of population is about three miles northeast of Plato in Texas County, Missouri.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1908, a special commission tasked with discovering the origins of baseball ruled that Abner Doubleday had invented the sport in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The finding has since been debunked.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears." -- Rudyard Kipling

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 -- record-setting number of tropical and subtropical storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. This includes one unnamed storm in October that was identified after the season ended.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 28) and full moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the 363rd day of 2014 and the ninth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1170, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered.

In 1890, U.S. Army troops massacred an estimated 300 Lakota Indian men, women and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota.

In 1940, Germany dropped hundreds of incendiary bombs on London.

In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Goodyear (1800-1860), inventor; Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), 17th U.S. president; William Gladstone (1809-1898), British prime minister; Mary Tyler Moore (1936- ), actress; Jon Voight (1938- ), actor; Ted Danson (1947- ), actor; Patricia Clarkson (1959- ), actress; Sean Payton (1963- ), football coach; Jude Law (1972- ), actor; Theo Epstein (1973- ), baseball executive; Mekhi Phifer (1974- ), actor; Danny McBride (1976- ), actor/comedian; Alison Brie (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: OSHA imposed the largest fine in agency history on Oct. 30, 2009, assessing $87 million in penalties against oil company BP. A 2005 explosion at the company's refinery in Texas killed 15 workers.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player who had just intercepted a pass during the Gator Bowl. Ohio State went on to lose 17-15, and Hayes was fired the next day.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one." -- Andrew Johnson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- years that Thomas Becket spent in exile (1164-1170) for refusing to acquiesce to new laws set by Henry II.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 28) and full moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the 362nd day of 2014 and the eighth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first U.S. vice president to resign his office.

In 1846, Iowa was admitted as the 29th U.S. state.

In 1912, San Francisco's first municipally owned streetcars began service.

In 1945, Congress formally recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1981, the first American "test-tube baby" was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th U.S. president; Stan Lee (1922- ), comic book creator/publisher; Maggie Smith (1934- ), actress; Gayle King (1954- ), magazine editor; Denzel Washington (1954- ), actor; Chris Ware (1967- ), illustrator; Linus Torvalds (1969- ), software engineer; Seth Meyers (1973- ), comedian/actor; John Legend (1978- ), musician; Noomi Rapace (1979- ), actress; Sienna Miller (1981- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: "Marvel Comics" was the first pulp fantasy comic book series published by Timely Comics, debuting in October 1939. Timely Comics editor Stan Lee reincorporated the name in 1961, publishing all of the company's comic books under the brand name "Marvel Comics."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1958, the Baltimore Colts came from behind in the final seconds to force the first sudden death overtime in a championship game. The Colts went on to win "The Greatest Game Ever Played," defeating the New York Giants 23-17 to win the NFL championship.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence." -- Woodrow Wilson

TODAY'S NUMBER: $12,400 -- average cost per cycle of in vitro fertilization in the United States. Most couples have to go through more than one cycle to achieve a successful pregnancy.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Dec. 28).