ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 38th day of 2018 and the 49th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1904, the Great Fire of Baltimore began, resulting in the destruction of more than 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

In 1917, a German U-boat sank the British ship California off the Irish coast.

In 1962, a near-total embargo on all trade between the United States and Cuba took effect at 12:01 a.m. EST.

In 1964, the "British Invasion" began as the Beatles arrived in New York for their first U.S. tour.

In 1995, the mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center was arrested in Pakistan.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: John Deere (1804-1886), businessman; Charles Dickens (1812-1870), author; Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), author; Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), author/playwright; Eubie Blake (1887-1983), composer/pianist; Pete Postlethwaite (1946-2011), actor; James Spader (1960- ), actor; Garth Brooks (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Eddie Izzard (1962- ), actor/comedian; Chris Rock (1965- ), actor/comedian; Steve Nash (1974- ), basketball player; Ashton Kutcher (1978- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Baltimore's population was estimated at 614,664 in 2016, making it the 30th-most populous city in the United States.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1969, Diane Crump became the first female jockey to ride in a thoroughbred race in the United States at the Hialeah Park race track in Florida.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart." -- Charles Dickens, "Master Humphrey's Clock"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 178 million -- albums sold by the Beatles in the U.S., as certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Feb. 7).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 36th day of 2018 and the 47th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1917, Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson's veto in passing the Immigration Act of 1917, banning persons from an "Asiatic Barred Zone" from entering the country.

In 1919, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launched United Artists.

In 1988, Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega was indicted in Florida on charges of bribery and drug trafficking.

In 1994, white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers 31 years earlier, in 1963.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965), politician/diplomat; William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), author; Red Buttons (1919-2006), actor/comedian; Hank Aaron (1934- ), baseball player; Michael Mann (1943- ), filmmaker; Christopher Guest (1948- ), actor/filmmaker; Laura Linney (1964- ), actress; Roberto Alomar (1968- ), baseball player; Sara Evans (1971- ), singer-songwriter; Cristiano Ronaldo (1985- ), soccer player.

TODAY'S FACT: United Artists co-founder Charlie Chaplin, who directed, produced, scored and starred in most of his own films, re-shot one scene in "City Lights," featuring his famous "Little Tramp" character, 342 times.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, Bob Douglas, "the Father of Black Professional Basketball," became the first African-American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A paranoid man is a man who knows a little about what's going on." – William S. Burroughs

TODAY'S NUMBER: 25 -- largest point deficit ever overcome in a Super Bowl game, achieved on this day in 2017 by the New England Patriots, who went on to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 31) and last quarter moon (Feb. 7).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 35th day of 2018 and the 46th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected the first president of the United States by the Electoral College.

In 1938, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the first feature-length Walt Disney animated film, was released in the United States.

In 1974, the Symbionese Liberation Army, an American revolutionary group, kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.

In 2004, Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com, the site that would eventually become Facebook.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Fernand Leger (1881-1955), artist; Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974), aviator; Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), theologian/Holocaust victim; Rosa Parks (1913-2005), activist; Betty Friedan (1921-2006), writer/activist; George Romero (1940-2017), filmmaker; Lawrence Taylor (1959- ), football player; Clint Black (1962- ), singer-songwriter; Rob Corddry (1971- ), actor/comedian; Oscar de la Hoya (1973- ), boxer; Gavin DeGraw (1977- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY'S FACT: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" received an honorary Academy Award in 1939 and was presented one regular-sized Oscar statuette accompanied by seven miniature ones.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1987, skipper Dennis Conner sailed to victory in the America's Cup yacht race, redeeming his loss in 1983, which was the first time an American had failed to win the 132-year-old event.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear." -- Rosa Parks, "Quiet Strength"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.07 billion -- monthly active users of Facebook, as reported by the company in November 2017.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 31) and last quarter moon (Feb. 7).