ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 49th day of 2017 and the 60th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1885, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published.

In 1930, astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Planet X, the dwarf planet later renamed Pluto.

In 2001, FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union and Russia.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), artist/designer; Charles M. Schwab (1862-1939), businessman; Jack Palance (1919-2006), actor; Toni Morrison (1931- ), author; Milos Forman (1932- ), filmmaker; Yoko Ono (1933- ), singer/performance artist; John Hughes (1950-2009), filmmaker; John Travolta (1954- ), actor; Vanna White (1957- ), TV personality; Matt Dillon (1964- ), actor; Dr. Dre (1965- ), rapper/record producer; Jillian Michaels (1974- ), TV personality; Le’Veon Bell (1992- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT: Snow has fallen on the Sahara Desert only twice in recorded weather history: on this date in 1979 and on Jan. 17, 2012.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2001, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. was fatally injured in a multicar crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it." -- Toni Morrison, "Jazz"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5th -- place held by "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" on the American Library Association's list of books whose availability in schools and libraries was most frequently challenged in the 1990s. For the decade ending in 2009, it had dropped to 14th place.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Feb. 18).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 48th day of 2017 and the 59th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives resolved an electoral tie by electing Thomas Jefferson president and his opponent, Aaron Burr, vice president.

In 1933, the Blaine Act initiated the repeal of Prohibition in the United States.

In 1974, a disgruntled U.S. Army private stole an Army helicopter at Fort Meade in Maryland and landed it on the White House lawn.

In 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov defeated the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in the last game of a six-game match, winning the series by a final score of 4-2.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Hans Morgenthau (1904-1980), political scientist; Red Barber (1908-1992), sportscaster; Hal Holbrook (1925- ), actor; Jim Brown (1936- ), football player; Rene Russo (1954- ), actress; Larry the Cable Guy (1963- ), comedian; Michael Jordan (1963- ), basketball player; Michael Bay (1965- ), filmmaker; Denise Richards (1971- ), actress; Billie Joe Armstrong (1972- ), musician; Joseph Gordon-Levitt (1981- ), actor; Paris Hilton (1981- ), socialite; Ed Sheeran (1991- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: The House of Representatives conducted 36 votes (one tie, 35 indecisive) before Thomas Jefferson was chosen as president over Aaron Burr.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1943, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. He was released on medical discharge in September 1945 due to chronic stomach ulcers.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Politics is an art and not a science, and what is required for its mastery is not the rationality of the engineer but the wisdom and the moral strength of the statesman." -- Hans Morgenthau, "Scientific Man Vs. Power Politics"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 29 million -- certified album sales for "Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" (released on this date in 1976), the first album certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Feb. 10) and last quarter moon (Feb. 18).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 47th day of 2017 and the 58th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1923, archaeologist Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of the recently discovered tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen.

In 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba.

In 1968, the United States' first 911 emergency phone system went into service in Haleyville, Alabama.

In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol for the reduction of greenhouse gases took effect for 141 ratifying nations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Henry M. Leland (1843-1932), Cadillac and Lincoln Motor Co. founder; Edgar Bergen (1903-1978), ventriloquist; Vera-Ellen (1921-1981), actress/dancer; Sonny Bono (1935-1998), singer/politician; Richard Ford (1944- ), author; LeVar Burton (1957- ), actor; Ice-T (1958- ), actor/rapper; John McEnroe (1959- ), tennis player; Christopher Eccleston (1964- ), actor; Jerome Bettis (1972- ), football player; Elizabeth Olsen (1989- ), actress; The Weeknd (1990- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: Hundreds of millions of 911 emergency calls are made in the United States each year. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that 76 percent are wireless calls.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2005, the National Hockey League canceled its 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs due to a labor dispute.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Things you did. Things you never did. Things you dreamed. After a long time they run together." -- Richard Ford, "Canada"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 30 -- broadcast radio stations in the United States in 1922. Today there are more than 15,000.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Feb. 10) and last quarter moon (Feb. 18).