ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 56th day of 2017 and the 67th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Samuel Colt received the patent for his revolving-cylinder pistol.

In 1901, J.P. Morgan incorporated the United States Steel Corporation.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to levy income taxes, went into effect.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense agreement between Central and Eastern European communist states, was declared disbanded.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), artist; Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), opera singer; John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), diplomat; Zeppo Marx (1901-1979), actor; Bobby Riggs (1918-1995), tennis player; Ralph Stanley (1927-2016), musician; George Harrison (1943-2001), singer-songwriter; Jack Handey (1949- ), humorist; Tea Leoni (1966- ), actress; Sean Astin (1971- ), actor; Chelsea Handler (1975- ), comedian; Rashida Jones (1976- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet were friends and often painted together; several of their works were painted at the same time in the same locations, from different angles.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston in a stunning upset to win the heavyweight boxing crown. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali the following week.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Somebody told me it was frightening how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared." – Jack Handey

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,060 -- pairs of shoes notoriously left behind by Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos when she and her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, were forced to flee the country on this day in 1986.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 18) and new moon (Feb. 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 55th day of 2017 and the 66th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1836, Colonel William Travis issued a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo in San Antonio.

In 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson.

In 1942, anti-aircraft guns were fired at the night skies due to erroneous reports of Japanese aircraft over Los Angeles.

In 2008, Fidel Castro's brother Raul Castro was officially named president by Cuba's parliament.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), author; Winslow Homer (1836-1910), artist; George A. Moore (1852-1933), poet/dramatist; Honus Wagner (1874-1955), baseball player; Abe Vigoda (1921-2016), actor; Dominic Chianese (1931- ), actor; Phil Knight (1938- ), business magnate; Joe Lieberman (1942- ), U.S. senator; Edward James Olmos (1947- ), actor; Steve Jobs (1955-2011), computer pioneer; Paula Zahn (1956- ), TV journalist; Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005), comedian; Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1977- ), boxer.

TODAY'S FACT: Andrew Johnson was the only U.S. senator from a Southern state to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." – Steve Jobs

TODAY'S NUMBER: $500 -- investment by Phil Knight, which was matched by his business partner and former track coach, Bill Bowerman, to start Blue Ribbon Sports, the progenitor to Nike, in 1964.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 18) and new moon (Feb. 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 54th day of 2017 and the 65th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1778, Baron von Steuben joined the U.S. encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to help train the Continental Army.� In 1942, a Japanese submarine fired artillery shells at coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California.

In 1945, American Marines raised the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima.

In 1954, the first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced the beginning of an allied ground offensive in Iraq.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), author/activist; Tom Osborne (1937- ), football coach; Peter Fonda (1940- ), actor; Fred Biletnikoff (1943- ), football player; Michael Dell (1965- ), businessman; Kelly Macdonald (1976- ), actress; Josh Gad (1981- ), actor; Aziz Ansari (1983- ), actor/comedian; Emily Blunt (1983- ), actress; Skylar Grey (1986- ), singer-songwriter; Dakota Fanning (1994- ), actress; Andrew Wiggins (1995- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Von Steuben Day is celebrated in mid-September with parades in many U.S. cities. Chicago's Von Steuben Day parade was featured in the 1986 film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1968, Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to score 25,000 career points.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, -- all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, -- who is good? not that men are ignorant, -- what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men." -- W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Souls of Black Folk"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 6,825 -- American soldiers who died taking Iwo Jima in 1945.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 18) and new moon (Feb. 26).