Today is the 45th day of 2015 and the 56th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1779, British explorer James Cook was killed on the island of Hawaii.

In 1859, Oregon was admitted as the 33rd U.S. state

In 1912, Arizona was admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

In 1929, seven mob associates were shot and killed in a Chicago garage in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

In 2003, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was euthanized at the age of 6.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jack Benny (1894-1974), actor/comedian; Mel Allen (1913-1996), sports broadcaster; Herbert Hauptman (1917-2011), mathematician; Florence Henderson (1934- ), actress; Michael Bloomberg (1942- ), business magnate/politician; Gregory Hines (1946-2003), dancer/actor; Jim Kelly (1960- ), football player; Meg Tilly (1960- ), actress; Simon Pegg (1970- ), actor; Rob Thomas (1972- ), singer-songwriter; Steve McNair (1973-2009), football player; Freddie Highmore (1994- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The U.S. Congress approved the use of voting machines in federal elections on this day in 1899.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1988, Bobby Allison became the oldest driver (age 50) to win the Daytona 500, while his son Davey finished second. It was the race's first 1-2 father-son finish.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We are never more creative than when we are at odds with the world and there is nothing so artistically destructive as comfort." -- Simon Pegg

TODAY'S NUMBER: $5 -- Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster Mel Allen's per-game salary when he became the New York Yankees' radio announcer in 1935.

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

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).