Today is the 62nd day of 2016 and the 72nd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

In 1877, the U.S. Congress declared Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 presidential election, despite the fact that Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.

In 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act was enacted, granting U.S. citizenship to the people of Puerto Rico.

In 1969, the Concorde supersonic airliner flew (at subsonic speeds) for the first time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sam Houston (1793-1863), soldier/politician; Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) (1904-1991), author; Mel Ott (1909-1958), baseball player; Desi Arnaz (1917-1986), actor/musician; Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ), former Soviet leader; Tom Wolfe (1931- ), author/journalist; John Irving (1942- ), author; Jon Bon Jovi (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Daniel Craig (1968- ), actor; Method Man (1971- ), rapper/actor; Chris Martin (1977- ), singer-songwriter; Rebel Wilson (1980- ), actress; Bryce Dallas Howard (1981- ), actress; Ben Roethlisberger (1982- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: "King Kong," which opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on this day in 1933, was made for about $11.7 million (in today's dollars). The 2005 remake cost $207 million to produce.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors set the NBA single-game scoring record with 100 points in a win over the New York Knicks.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Your memory is a monster; you forget -- it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you -- and summons them to your recall with a will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!" -- John Irving, "A Prayer for Owen Meany"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 27 -- publishing companies that rejected the manuscript of Dr. Seuss' first book for children, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street."

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (March 1) and new moon (March 8).

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).