Today is the 359th day of 2015 and the fourth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1868, President Andrew Johnson unconditionally pardoned all those who had participated in the Southern rebellion that led to the Civil War.

In 1974, 25-year-old Marshall Fields crashed his car through a White House gate and threatened to detonate a bomb; he surrendered after a four-hour standoff.

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee launched the first World Wide Web server.

In 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president. The Soviet Union was officially dissolved the next day.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), scientist; Clara Barton (1821-1912), American Red Cross founder; Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), actor; Cab Calloway (1907-1994), bandleader/singer; Anwar Sadat (1918-1981), Egyptian president; Rod Serling (1924-1975), screenwriter/producer; Jimmy Buffett (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Sissy Spacek (1949- ), actress; Karl Rove (1950- ), political strategist; Annie Lennox (1954- ), singer; Rickey Henderson (1958- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Americans spent $53.3 billion shopping online during the holiday season in 2014.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, former New York Yankees player and manager Billy Martin died in an automobile accident.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past." -- Clara Barton, "The Story of My Childhood"

TODAY'S NUMBER: $0 -- amount Tim Berners-Lee charges to let people use his Web innovations, including HTML, URLs and HTTP.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Dec. 25).

Today is the 358th day of 2015 and the third day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1943, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed supreme allied commander.

In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit the moon.

In 1973, Congress passed legislation allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to elect a mayor and council with limited authority.

In 1992, President George Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others associated with the Iran-Contra scandal.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Kit Carson (1809-1868), Army scout/frontiersman; Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), poet/critic; Howard Hughes (1905-1976), businessman/aviator/film producer; Ava Gardner (1922-1990), actress; Mary Higgins Clark (1927- ), author; Robert Joffrey (1930-1988), dancer/choreographer; Kate Spade (1962- ), fashion designer; Ricky Martin (1971- ), singer/actor; Stephenie Meyer (1973- ), author; Ryan Seacrest (1974- ), TV/radio personality.

TODAY'S FACT: Kit Carson left his apprenticeship as a saddle and harness maker to join a wagon train headed west when he was 15 years old.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, the Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship by defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, when Lou "The Toe" Groza kicked a field goal with 20 seconds left.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The free-thinking of one age is the common sense of the next." -- Matthew Arnold

TODAY'S NUMBER: 34 -- years after his death in 1976 that the estimated $2 billion estate of Howard Hughes, who died without a valid will, was finally settled.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 18) and full moon (Dec. 25).

Today is the 357th day of 2015 and the second day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army.

In 1823, the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") was first published anonymously in the Troy (New York) Sentinel. The poem was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.

In 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was performed at Brigham Hospital in Boston.

In 1986, the lightweight composite aircraft Voyager completed the first nonstop flight around the globe without refueling.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joseph Smith (1805-1844), religious leader; Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), entrepreneur; Akihito (1933- ), emperor of Japan; Harry Shearer (1943- ), actor/comedian; Wesley Clark (1944- ), Army general; Susan Lucci (1946- ), actress; Bill Kristol (1952- ), political commentator; Jim Harbaugh (1963- ), football player/coach; Eddie Vedder (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Hanley Ramirez (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2006, an original handwritten copy of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" sold in a private sale for $280,000.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders, 13-7, on a bizarre last-second touchdown that became known as the "Immaculate Reception."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines. Nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation." -- Harry Shearer

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16 -- survivors of the "Miracle of the Andes" plane crash rescued on this day in 1972, after surviving for more than two months at the crash site in the mountains along the border between Argentina and Chile.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 18) and full moon (Dec. 25).