ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 40th day of 2018 and the 51st day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1825, the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president, a decision that became necessary after no candidate took the majority of the electoral votes in the election of 1824.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1950, during a speech in West Virginia, Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin claimed to have a list of more than 200 "known communists" serving in the State Department.

In 1964, the Beatles made their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), ninth U.S. president; Ronald Colman (1891-1958), actor; Carmen Miranda (1909-1955), dancer/singer/actress; Brendan Behan (1923-1964), playwright; Roger Mudd (1928- ), TV journalist; Carole King (1942- ), singer-songwriter; Joe Pesci (1943- ), actor; Alice Walker (1944- ), author; Mia Farrow (1945- ), actress; Charlie Day (1976- ), actor; Tom Hiddleston (1981- ), actor; Michael B. Jordan (1987- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: The game of volleyball (then called Mintonette) was created in Holyoke, Massachusetts, on this day in 1895.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "There is no part of the means placed in the hands of the Executive which might be used with greater effect for unhallowed purposes than the control of the public press." -- William Henry Harrison

TODAY'S NUMBER: 73 million -- viewers estimated to have tuned in to see the Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." At 45.3 percent of all U.S. television-owning households, it became the highest-rated TV telecast and is still the 26th-highest rated of all time.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 7) and new moon (Feb. 15).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 39th day of 2018 and the 50th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed on suspicion of plotting to murder her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

In 1915, D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" premiered in Los Angeles with the title "The Clansman."

In 1971, the NASDAQ stock exchange began trading.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law, leading to a drastic overhaul of U.S. media regulations.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), U.S. general; Jules Verne (1828-1905), author; Lana Turner (1921-1995), actress; Jack Lemmon (1925-2001), actor; James Dean (1931-1955), actor; John Williams (1932- ), composer; Ted Koppel (1940- ), journalist; Nick Nolte (1941- ), actor; Robert Klein (1942- ), comedian/actor; Mary Steenburgen (1953- ), actress; John Grisham (1955- ), author; Gary Coleman (1968-2010), actor; Mary McCormack (1969- ), actress; Seth Green (1974- ), actor/producer; Klay Thompson (1990- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: The first movie ever to be screened privately at the White House was "The Birth of a Nation," which Woodrow Wilson viewed in 1915.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1998, Finland beat Sweden 6-0 in the first women's Olympic ice hockey game.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "While his heart still beats, while his flesh still moves, I cannot accept that a being endowed with will-power can give in to despair." -- Jules Verne, "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.35 million – estimated youth membership of the Boy Scouts of America in 2017.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 7) and new moon (Feb. 15).

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).