Today is the 364th day of 2015 and the ninth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1853, the United States completed the Gadsden Purchase, establishing the border with Mexico.

In 1916, a group of Russian aristocrats carried out the murder of Rasputin, private adviser to the ruling Romanov family.

In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially established.

In 2006, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), writer; Bo Diddley (1928-2008), singer-songwriter; Sandy Koufax (1935- ), baseball player; Davy Jones (1945-2012), singer; Patti Smith (1946- ) singer-songwriter; Meredith Vieira (1953- ), TV journalist; Matt Lauer (1957- ), TV journalist; Tracey Ullman (1959- ), actress/comedian; Sean Hannity (1961- ), TV host; Tiger Woods (1975- ), pro golfer; Tyrese Gibson (1978- ), singer/actor; Eliza Dushku (1980- ), actress; LeBron James (1984- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The geographic center of the United States lies 17 miles west of Castle Rock, South Dakota. The center of population is about 5.5 miles southwest of Plato in Wright County, Missouri.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1908, a special commission tasked with discovering the origins of baseball ruled that Abner Doubleday had invented the sport in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The finding has since been debunked.

TODAY'S QUOTE: " I keep six honest serving-men: / (They taught me all I knew); / Their names are What and Why and When / And How and Where and Who." -- Rudyard Kipling, "Just So Stories"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 28 -- record-setting number of tropical and subtropical storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. This includes one unnamed storm in October that was identified after the season ended.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 25) and last quarter moon (Jan. 1).

Today is the 363rd day of 2015 and the eighth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1170, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered.

In 1890, U.S. Army troops massacred an estimated 300 Lakota Indian men, women and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota.

In 1940, Germany dropped hundreds of incendiary bombs on London.

In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Goodyear (1800-1860), inventor; Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), 17th U.S. president; William Gladstone (1809-1898), British prime minister; Mary Tyler Moore (1936- ), actress; Jon Voight (1938- ), actor; Ted Danson (1947- ), actor; Patricia Clarkson (1959- ), actress; Sean Payton (1963- ), football coach; Jude Law (1972- ), actor; Theo Epstein (1973- ), baseball executive; Mekhi Phifer (1974- ), actor; Danny McBride (1976- ), actor/comedian; Alison Brie (1982- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: OSHA imposed the largest fine in agency history on Oct. 30, 2009, assessing $87 million in penalties against oil company BP. A 2005 explosion at the company's refinery in Texas killed 15 workers.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1978, Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player who had just intercepted a pass during the Gator Bowl. Ohio State went on to lose 17-15, and Hayes was fired the next day.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests at least equally important and equally deserving the considerations of Congress." -- Andrew Johnson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6 -- years that Thomas Becket spent in exile (1164-1170) for refusing to acquiesce to new laws set by Henry II.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 25) and last quarter moon (Jan. 1).

Today is the 362nd day of 2015 and the seventh day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first U.S. vice president to resign his office.

In 1846, Iowa was admitted as the 29th U.S. state.

In 1912, San Francisco's first municipally owned streetcars began service.

In 1942, Congress formally recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1981, the first American "test-tube baby" was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th U.S. president; Stan Lee (1922- ), comic book creator/publisher; Maggie Smith (1934- ), actress; Gayle King (1954- ), magazine editor; Denzel Washington (1954- ), actor; Chris Ware (1967- ), artist; Linus Torvalds (1969- ), software engineer; Seth Meyers (1973- ), comedian/actor; John Legend (1978- ), singer-songwriter; Noomi Rapace (1979- ), actress; Sienna Miller (1981- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: "Marvel Comics" was the first pulp fantasy comic book series published by Timely Comics, debuting in October 1939. Timely Comics editor Stan Lee reincorporated the name in 1961, publishing all of the company's comic books under the brand name "Marvel Comics."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1958, the Baltimore Colts came from behind in the final seconds to force the first sudden death overtime in a championship game. The Colts went on to win "The Greatest Game Ever Played," defeating the New York Giants 23-17 to win the NFL championship.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It is true that in order to learn men must for a little while withdraw from action, must seek some quiet place of remove from the bustle of affairs, where their thoughts may run clear and tranquil, and the heats of business be for the time put off; but that cloistered refuge is no place to dream in." -- Woodrow Wilson

TODAY'S NUMBER: $12,400 -- average cost per cycle of in vitro fertilization in the United States. Most couples have to go through more than one cycle to achieve a successful pregnancy.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 25) and last quarter moon (Jan. 1).