Today is the 63rd day of 2015 and the 74th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, the first session of the United States Congress was held in New York City as the new Constitution took effect.

In 1791, Vermont was admitted as the 14th U.S. state.

In 1913, the U.S. Department of Labor was formed.

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his "New Deal" during his inauguration as the 32nd U.S. president.

In 1974, the first issue of People magazine was published, featuring "The Great Gatsby" star Mia Farrow on the cover.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), composer; Casimir Pulaski (1745-1779), military leader; Knute Rockne (1888-1931), football coach; John Garfield (1913-1952), actor; James Ellroy (1948- ), author; Rick Perry (1950- ), politician; Catherine O'Hara (1954- ), actress; Mykelti Williamson (1957- ), actor; Patricia Heaton (1958- ), actress; Ray Mancini (1961- ), boxer; Landon Donovan (1982- ), soccer player.

TODAY'S FACT: Between 1945 and 1990, the United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear weapons. About 4,800 nuclear warheads remain in the U.S. stockpile.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1995, heavyweight champion George Foreman refused to fight No. 1 contender Tony Tucker and was stripped of his title by the World Boxing Association.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "On the road we're somebody else's guests and we play in a way that they're not going to forget we visited them." -- Knute Rockne

TODAY'S NUMBER: 77,865 -- immediately eligible American candidates awaiting organ transplants as of February 2015.

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

Today is the 62nd day of 2015 and the 73rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th U.S. state.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional resolution adopting "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the U.S. national anthem.

In 1991, an amateur videographer captured the beating and arrest of construction worker Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers after a high-speed car chase.

In 2005, American millionaire Steve Fossett made the first solo, nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in a fixed-wing aircraft.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor; Jean Harlow (1911-1937), actress; James Doohan (1920-2005), actor; James Merrill (1926-1995), poet; Perry Ellis (1940-1986), fashion designer; Ira Glass (1959- ), radio personality; Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1962- ), athlete; Julie Bowen (1970- ), actress; Jessica Biel (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: "The Star-Spangled Banner" is set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," a piece originally composed around 1775 as the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an English musicians' club.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1974, heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman successfully defended his title with a second-round knockout of Ken Norton, improving his overall record to 40-0 with 37 knockouts.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things." -- Alexander Graham Bell

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.82 -- gallons of wine per capita Americans consume annually.

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

Today is the 61st day of 2015 and the 72nd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

In 1877, the U.S. Congress declared Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 presidential election, despite the fact that Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.

In 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act was enacted, granting U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico.

In 1969, the Concorde supersonic airliner flew (at subsonic speeds) for the first time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sam Houston (1793-1863), soldier/politician; Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903); Pope Pius XII (1876-1958); Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) (1904-1991), author; Mel Ott (1909-1958), baseball player; Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), actor/musician; Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ), former Soviet leader; Tom Wolfe (1931- ), author/journalist; John Irving (1942- ), author; Jon Bon Jovi (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Daniel Craig (1968- ), actor; Method Man (1971- ), rapper/actor; Chris Martin (1977- ), singer-songwriter; Ben Roethlisberger (1982- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: "King Kong," which opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on this day in 1933, was made for about $11.7 million (in today's dollars). The 2005 remake cost $207 million to produce.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors set the NBA single-game scoring record with 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer's irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn't reading." -- John Irving, "The World According to Garp"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 -- publishing companies that rejected the manuscript of Dr. Seuss' first book for children, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street."

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