ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 34th day of 2017 and the 45th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1690, the Massachusetts Colony printed the first American paper currency.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting state and federal governments from denying the right to vote based on race or color.

In 1913, the federal income tax was authorized with ratification of the 16th Amendment.

In 1959, rock pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

In 1962, President John Kennedy announced a ban on nearly all trade with Cuba.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), composer; Horace Greeley (1811-1872), activist/newspaper editor; Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), writer; Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), artist/illustrator; James Michener (1907-1997), author; Fran Tarkenton (1940- ), football player; Blythe Danner (1943- ), actress; Morgan Fairchild (1950- ), actress; Nathan Lane (1956- ), actor; Maura Tierney (1965- ), actress; Isla Fisher (1976- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Norman Rockwell's body of work is estimated at more than 4,000 original pieces.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1990, legendary jockey Willie Shoemaker rode the 40,350th and final race of his career.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries." -- James Michener, "Chesapeake"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17 -- age at which Felix Mendelssohn wrote his overture to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

TODAY'S MOON: First quarter moon (Feb. 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 33rd day of 2017 and the 44th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time.

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the war between the United States and Mexico.

In 1887, the first official Groundhog Day celebration was held at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

In 1913, the current Grand Central Terminal opened in New York City.

In 1943, the Russian victory at Stalingrad was concluded when German forces surrendered to the Soviets.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Solomon R. Guggenheim (1861-1949), businessman/philanthropist; James Joyce (1882-1941), author/poet; George Halas (1895-1983), football coach/team owner; Ayn Rand (1905-1982), author/philosopher; Elaine Stritch (1925-2014), actress/comedian; Stan Getz (1927-1991), jazz musician; Tom Smothers (1937- ), comedian/actor; Graham Nash (1942- ), singer-songwriter; Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009), actress; Christie Brinkley (1954- ), model; Shakira (1977- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Since the release of the popular movie "Groundhog Day" in 1993, crowds of up to 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania each year on Feb. 2 to see whether Punxsutawney Phil observes his shadow.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, now known as the National League of Major League Baseball, was established.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole life to reading my works." -- James Joyce

TODAY'S NUMBER: 102 -- times in the 127-year history of Groundhog Day ceremonies that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Jan. 27) and first quarter moon (Feb. 3).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 32nd day of 2017 and the 43rd day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, a Texas state convention voted 166-8 in favor of a measure to secede from the Union.

In 1884, the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and more than 700 others were arrested at a protest in Selma, Alabama.

In 2003, the U.S. space shuttle Columbia broke apart shortly after entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing its seven-member crew.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Ford (1894-1973), film director; Clark Gable (1901-1960), actor; Langston Hughes (1902-1967), poet; Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004), opera singer; Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007), Russian president; Sherman Helmsley (1938-2012), actor; Rick James (1948-2004), singer-songwriter; Princess Stephanie of Monaco (1965- ); Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012), publisher/political commentator; Ronda Rousey (1987- ), mixed martial artist; Harry Styles (1994- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Harvard scholar Carter G. Woodson pioneered "Negro History Week" in 1926 and designated the second week in February for its celebration, to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Negro History Week was later expanded to include all of February and renamed "Black History Month."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, a "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show resulted in the exposure of singer Janet Jackson's breast on live national television during a duet with Justin Timberlake.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Hold fast to dreams / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly." -- Langston Hughes, "Dreams"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,014 -- height (in feet) of the Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, which opened in London on this day in 2013.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Jan. 27) and first quarter moon (Feb. 3).