Today is the 61st day of 2016 and the 71st day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, the Continental Congress officially adopted the Articles of Confederation.

In 1803, Ohio was admitted as the 17th U.S. state.

In 1867, Nebraska was admitted as the 37th U.S. state.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.

In 2003, Pakistani counterterrorism forces captured al-Qaida operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a principal planner of the 9/11 terror attacks.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment for crimes committed before the age of 18 was unconstitutional.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), composer; Glenn Miller (1904-1944), bandleader; David Niven (1910-1983), actor; Harry Caray (1914-1998), sportscaster; Ralph Ellison (1914-1994), author; Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), Israeli prime minister; Harry Belafonte (1927- ), singer-songwriter/actor; Roger Daltrey (1944- ), singer-songwriter; Ron Howard (1954- ), actor/director; Zack Snyder (1966- ), filmmaker; Javier Bardem (1969- ), actor; Justin Bieber (1994- ), singer.

TODAY'S FACT: The International Criminal Court held its inaugural session in The Hague on this day in 2003.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle announced his retirement.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Perhaps to lose a sense of where you are implies the danger of losing a sense of who you are." -- Ralph Ellison, "Invisible Man"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5,081,573 -- English-language pages on Wikipedia.org, as of mid-February 2016. Wikipedia estimates that without images, its pages would fill 2,249 volumes of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica."

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (March 1).

Today is the 60th day of 2016 and the 70th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1704, French and Native American forces attacked the English settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts.

In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for her performance as Mammy in "Gone With the Wind."

In 1944, U.S. troops under Gen. Douglas MacArthur invaded the Admiralty Islands.

In 1960, an earthquake killed 12,000 in Agadir, Morocco.

In 2008, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense announced that Prince Harry's deployment with the British Army in Afghanistan would end immediately.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), composer; Herman Hollerith (1860-1929), engineer; Jimmy Dorsey (1904-1957), composer/bandleader; Balthus (1908-2001), artist; Dinah Shore (1916-1994), singer/TV personality; Al Rosen (1924-2015), baseball player; Dennis Farina (1944-2013), actor; Ja Rule (1976- ), rapper.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2012, Louise Estes of Orem, Utah, gave birth to a daughter, her third consecutive leap baby (baby born on Leap Day, Feb. 29). Estes had given birth to sons on Leap Day in 2004 and 2008, and with her third child tied a record set in the 1960s.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, Hank Aaron became the first Major League Baseball player to sign a $200,000 contract.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The best way to begin is to say: 'Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known. And now let us have a look at his paintings.'" -- Balthus

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2,080 -- height (in feet) of the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world, completed on this day in 2012. It is the second-tallest man-made structure on Earth, behind only the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (2,722 feet).

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Feb. 22) and last quarter moon (March 1).

Today is the 59th day of 2016 and the 69th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1935, DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invented nylon.

In 1993, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian cult compound in Waco, Texas.

In 1997, two heavily armed and armored bank robbers were killed in a shootout with police on the streets of North Hollywood.

In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI became the first Catholic pope to resign since 1415.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986), film director; Milton Caniff (1907-1988), cartoonist; Frank Gehry (1929- ), architect; Mario Andretti (1940- ), race car driver; Bernadette Peters (1948- ), actress; Paul Krugman (1953- ), columnist/Nobel laureate; John Turturro (1957- ), actor; Robert Sean Leonard (1969- ), actor; Pat Monahan (1969- ), singer-songwriter; Lemony Snicket (1970- ), author; Eric Lindros (1973- ), hockey player; Jason Aldean (1977- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: The 2 1/2-hour series finale of "M.A.S.H.," which was watched by 60.2 percent of U.S. TV-owning households, remains the highest-rated single TV show in history, with a 77 percent share of the Nielsen ratings during its original airing on this day in 1983.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1967, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers missed a shot for the first time in four games, ending his NBA-record streak of consecutive field goals at 35.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Just about everything in this world is easier said than done, with the exception of 'systematically assisting Sisyphus's stealthy, cyst-susceptible sister,' which is easier done than said." -- Lemony Snicket, "The Vile Village"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 51 -- days that the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, lasted.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Feb. 22) and last quarter moon (March 1).