Today is the 18th day of 2017 and the 29th 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: "I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there." -- Baron de Montesquieu, "Lettres Persanes" ("Persian Letters")

TODAY'S NUMBER: 582,578 -- square miles of Pacific Ocean encompassed by the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, established at 139,797 square miles by President George W. Bush in June 2006 and expanded to its current size by President Barack Obama in 2016.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 12) and last quarter moon (Jan 19).

Today is the 17th day of 2017 and the 28th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1773, Captain 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 (1942-2016), 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: The term "military-industrial complex" was first used by President Dwight Eisenhower during his farewell address to the nation on this day in 1961.

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 hated every minute of it. But I said to myself, 'Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion.'" -- Muhammad Ali, on training

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 12) and last quarter moon (Jan 19).

Today is the 16th day of 2017 and the 27th 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 (1943- ), 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 101.5 million passengers traveled through in 2015.

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: "The man who insists on high and serious pleasures is depriving himself of pleasure; he continually restricts what he can enjoy; in the constant exercise of his good taste he will eventually price himself out of the market, so to speak." -- Susan Sontag

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: Between full moon (Jan. 12) and last quarter moon (Jan 19).