Today is the first day of 2016 and the 11th day of winter.
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TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing slaves in Confederate states.
In 1892, the Ellis Island immigration station opened in New York City.
In 1908, the first Times Square "ball drop" triggered a fireworks show celebrating the New Year.
In 1912, the Republic of China was established.
In 1994, provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Paul Revere (1735-1818), American patriot; Betsy Ross (1752-1836), seamstress/U.S. flag designer; E.M. Forster (1879-1970), author; J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), FBI director; J.D. Salinger (1919-2010), author; Charlie Munger (1924- ), businessman/philanthropist; Frank Langella (1938- ), actor; Grandmaster Flash (1958- ), musician; Derrick Thomas (1967-2000), football player; Morris Chestnut (1969- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, considered the first of some 78 million postwar "baby boomers," was born in Philadelphia one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1902, the University of Michigan Wolverines defeated Stanford University, 49-0, in the first college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid." -- J.D. Salinger, "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period"
TODAY'S NUMBER: 1 million -- people processed through the Ellis Island immigration station in 1907, the peak year for immigration to the United States.
TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Jan. 1).