Today is the 44th day of 2015 and the 55th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1866, Jesse James held up his first bank.

In 1945, Allied aircraft began bombing the German city of Dresden.

In 1960, France successfully detonated its first atomic bomb.

In 2000, the last of Charles Schulz's original "Peanuts" comic strips ran in Sunday papers, one day after the cartoonist's death.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Grant Wood (1891-1942), artist; Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919-1991), singer/actor; Chuck Yeager (1923- ), aviator; Kim Novak (1933- ), actress; Stockard Channing (1944- ), actress; Jerry Springer (1944- ), TV personality; Peter Gabriel (1950- ), singer-songwriter; Henry Rollins (1961- ), singer-songwriter; Robbie Williams (1974- ), singer-songwriter; Randy Moss (1977- ), football player; Mena Suvari (1979- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The central event of author Kurt Vonnegut's celebrated novel "Slaughterhouse-Five" is the Allied bombing of the city of Dresden during World War II. Estimates of civilian casualties from the bombings range from 35,000 to 135,000.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1920, the Negro National League was established at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri, becoming the first black professional baseball league.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don't do, you don't believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane." -- Chuck Yeager

TODAY'S NUMBER: 300 -- estimated number of nuclear weapons in France's stockpile as of June 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 11) and new moon (Feb. 18).

Today is the 43rd day of 2015 and the 54th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1554, Lady Jane Grey, who reigned over England for nine days in 1553, was beheaded for treason.

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in New York City.

In 1999, the U.S. Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, bringing his impeachment trial to a close.

In 2008, General Motors offered buyouts to its more than 70,000 union workers after posting a $39 billion loss in 2007.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Darwin (1809-1882), scientist; Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th U.S. president; Lorne Greene (1915-1987), actor; Franco Zeffirelli (1923- ), director; Bill Russell (1934- ), basketball player; Judy Blume (1938- ), author; Arsenio Hall (1956- ), actor/comedian; Josh Brolin (1968- ), actor; Darren Aronofsky (1969- ), filmmaker; Christina Ricci (1980- ), actress; Robert Griffin III (1990- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: Charles Darwin replaced Charles Dickens on Britain's 10-pound note in 2000, reportedly in part because Darwin's beard would make forgery more difficult.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1878, Harvard baseball player Frederick Thayer received a patent for the catcher's mask.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I believe it is an established maxim in morals that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him." -- Abraham Lincoln

TODAY'S NUMBER: 212,000 -- workers employed worldwide by General Motors in 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 11) and new moon (Feb. 18).

Today is the 42nd day of 2015 and the 53rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin concluded their conference in Yalta.

In 1990, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa after 27 years.

In 2011, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ceded power in response to mass protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, bringing nearly 30 years of rule to a close.

In 2013, the Vatican announced Pope Benedict XVI's intention to step down as leader of the Catholic Church.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Edison (1847-1931), inventor; Max Baer (1909-1959), boxer; Eva Gabor (1919-1995), actress; Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010), actor; Mary Quant (1934- ), fashion designer; Burt Reynolds (1936- ), actor; Sheryl Crow (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Sarah Palin (1964- ), politician/TV personality; Jennifer Aniston (1969- ), actress; Damian Lewis (1971- ), actor; Kelly Rowland (1981- ), singer; Taylor Lautner (1992- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1970, Japan successfully launched its first satellite, becoming the world's fourth space power after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958 and France in 1965.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, Buster Douglas knocked out undisputed heavyweight champion and 42-1 betting favorite Mike Tyson in the 10th round of their match in Tokyo, completing one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Doing nothing is very hard to do ... you never know when you're finished." -- Leslie Nielsen

TODAY'S NUMBER: 21 -- age at which Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, for an "Electric Vote Recorder."

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Feb. 11).