Today is the 58th day of 2015 and the 69th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1827, a group of costumed students paraded down the streets of New Orleans in celebration of Mardi Gras, creating the city's trademark festival.

In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting presidents to two terms.

In 1973, roughly 200 Native-American activists and members of the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, beginning a standoff with federal marshals that lasted until May 8.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), poet; Hugo Black (1886-1971), U.S. Supreme Court justice; Marian Anderson (1897-1993), singer; John Steinbeck (1902-1968), author; Joanne Woodward (1930- ), actress; Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), actress; Ralph Nader (1934- ), consumer activist; James Worthy (1961- ), basketball player; Donal Logue (1966- ), actor; Tony Gonzalez (1976- ), football player; Chelsea Clinton (1980- ), journalist; Josh Groban (1981- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: In 1939, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution when it barred African-American singer Marian Anderson from performing at Constitution Hall. Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial instead.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1992, 16-year-old Tiger Woods competed in the Nissan Los Angeles Open, becoming the youngest participant in a PGA event in more than 30 years.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." -- John Steinbeck, "East of Eden"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 739,034 -- votes received by Ralph Nader in the 2008 presidential election, running as an independent candidate. Nader ran for president in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008, finishing no higher than third in each election.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Feb. 25) and full moon (March 5).

Today is the 57th day of 2015 and the 68th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba and began his return journey to France.

In 1935, Adolf Hitler secretly ordered the Luftwaffe to be reformed, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1987, the Tower Commission released its report on the Iran-Contra affair, rebuking President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.

In 1993, a truck bomb exploded in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Victor Hugo (1802-1885), author; Levi Strauss (1829-1902), tailor/inventor; William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), frontiersman/showman; Tex Avery (1908-1980), animator; Jackie Gleason (1916-1987), actor/comedian; Tony Randall (1920-2004), actor; Fats Domino (1928- ), singer-songwriter/pianist; Ariel Sharon (1928-2014), Israeli prime minister; Robert Novak (1931-2009), columnist; Johnny Cash (1932-2003), singer-songwriter; Michael Bolton (1953- ), singer-songwriter; Erykah Badu (1971- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who went to San Francisco during the Gold Rush, made his first pair of "jeans" out of canvas.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1935, an aging Babe Ruth was released by the New York Yankees and signed a contract to become an assistant manager and player with the Boston Braves.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Not being heard is no reason for silence." -- Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 14 -- age at which "Buffalo Bill" Cody began riding for the Pony Express, after answering an advertisement for "skinny, expert riders willing to risk death daily."

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Feb. 25) and full moon (March 5).

Today is the 56th day of 2015 and the 67th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Samuel Colt received the patent for his revolving-cylinder pistol.

In 1901, J.P. Morgan incorporated the United States Steel Corporation.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to levy income taxes, went into effect.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense agreement between Central and Eastern European communist states, was declared disbanded.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), artist; Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), opera singer; John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), diplomat; Zeppo Marx (1901-1979), actor; Bobby Riggs (1918-1995), tennis player; Ralph Stanley (1927- ), musician; Sally Jessy Raphael (1935- ), TV personality; George Harrison (1943-2001), singer-songwriter; Jack Handey (1949- ), humorist; Sean Astin (1971- ), actor; Chelsea Handler (1975- ), comedian; Rashida Jones (1976- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Pierre-Auguste Renoir continued to paint in his later years, despite being wheelchair-bound and suffering from such severe rheumatoid arthritis that he could not pick up a brush on his own. An assistant had to place the brush in Renoir's hand.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston in a stunning upset to win the heavyweight boxing crown. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali the following week.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year." -- John Foster Dulles

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,060 -- pairs of shoes notoriously left behind by Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos when she and her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, were forced to flee the country on this day in 1986.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Feb. 25).