Today is the 18th day of 2016 and the 28th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1788, English settlers landed in Australia to establish a penal colony.

In 1943, the first armed uprising began at the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland.

In 1964, planners unveiled the designs for New York's World Trade Center.

In 1990, Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry was arrested on drug possession charges as a result of an FBI sting operation.

In 1993, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), political philosopher; Daniel Webster (1782-1852), statesman/orator; A.A. Milne (1882-1956), children's author; Cary Grant (1904-1986), actor; Danny Kaye (1911-1987), entertainer; Kevin Costner (1955- ), actor; Mark Messier (1961- ), hockey player; Dave Attell (1965- ), actor/comedian; Dave Bautista (1969- ), wrestler/actor; Jesse L. Martin (1969- ), actor; Julius Peppers (1980- ), football player; Jason Segel (1980- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The United Nations designated 11 convict sites in Australia -- used as prisons by the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries -- as World Heritage Sites in 2010.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1976, wide receiver Lynn Swann gained 161 yards on four receptions and was named MVP as Pittsburgh defeated Dallas 21-17 in Super Bowl X.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer." -- Baron de Montesquieu, "Lettres Persanes" ("Persian Letters")

TODAY'S NUMBER: 139,797 -- square miles of Pacific Ocean encompassed by the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, designated by President Bush in June 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 16) and full moon (Jan. 23).

Today is the 17th day of 2016 and the 27th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1773, Capt. James Cook and his crew became the first to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.

In 1819, Simon Bolivar proclaimed Colombia a republic.

In 1917, the United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.

In 1946, the United Nations Security Council held its first session.

In 1991, a United States-led coalition's planes struck targets in Kuwait and Iraq, launching the Persian Gulf War.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), statesman/inventor/author; Al Capone (1899-1947), organized crime boss; Betty White (1922- ), actress; Eartha Kitt (1927-2008), actress/singer; James Earl Jones (1931- ), actor; Muhammad Ali (1942- ), boxer; Andy Kaufman (1949-1984), actor/comedian; Steve Harvey (1957- ), comedian/actor; Jim Carrey (1962- ), actor; Michelle Obama (1964- ), U.S. first lady; Kid Rock (1971- ), singer-songwriter; Zooey Deschanel (1980- ), actress; Dwyane Wade (1982- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Besides being well-known as a publisher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin was also a composer and viol player, and created a briefly popular new instrument known as the armonica (or glass harmonica).

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1971, the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V, a game so filled with errors it was nicknamed the "Blunder Bowl."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." -- Benjamin Franklin

TODAY'S NUMBER: 26 -- age at which gangster Al Capone became boss of the "Chicago Outfit."

TODAY'S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Jan. 16) and full moon (Jan. 23).

Today is the 16th day of 2016 and the 26th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the first meeting of the League of Nations was held in Paris.

In 1945, Adolf Hitler moved into his underground bunker in Berlin.

In 1969, the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 completed the first docking of manned spacecraft.

In 1979, the Shah of Iran fled his homeland in the wake of a revolution.

In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first female elected head of state of an African nation when she was sworn in as president of Liberia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Ethel Merman (1908-1984), actress/singer; Dizzy Dean (1910-1974), baseball player; Dian Fossey (1932-1985), zoologist; Susan Sontag (1933-2004), author/critic; Ronnie Milsap (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Laura Schlessinger (1947- ), radio host/author; John Carpenter (1948- ), director; Ruth Reichl (1948- ), food writer/editor; Roy Jones Jr. (1969- ), boxer; Kate Moss (1974- ), model; Albert Pujols (1980- ), baseball player; Joe Flacco (1985- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: The world's busiest airport is Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, which 96 million passengers traveled through in 2014.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1961, Mickey Mantle signed a contract for an annual salary of $75,000, making him the highest-paid player in the American League.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers." -- Susan Sontag, "Regarding the Pain of Others"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 23 -- countries that were members of the League of Nations for its entire duration. Forty other nations were members intermittently.

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Jan. 16).