ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the sixth day of 2026 and the 17th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1838, Samuel F.B. Morse and Alfred Vail publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time.

In 1912, New Mexico was admitted as the 47th U.S. state.

In 1974, U.S. daylight saving time was implemented year-round in response to the 1973 oil crisis.

In 2021, rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jedediah Smith (1799-1831), explorer/author; Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet/biographer; Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), poet/novelist; Danny Thomas (1912-1991), actor/comedian; Lou Holtz (1937- ), football coach/sportscaster; Rowan Atkinson (1955- ), actor/comedian; Nancy Lopez (1957- ), golfer; Howie Long (1960- ), football player/broadcaster; John Singleton (1968-2019), filmmaker; Norman Reedus (1969- ), actor; Eddie Redmayne (1982- ), actor; Kate McKinnon (1984- ), actress/comedian.

TODAY'S FACT: Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms," declared during his State of the Union address on this day in 1941, outlined his principal goals for people "everywhere in the world": freedom of speech and worship, and freedom from want and fear.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1994, U.S. champion figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee after a practice session on the orders of skating rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you." -- Carl Sandburg

TODAY'S NUMBER: $30,000 -- amount Congress appropriated in 1843 for Samuel F.B. Morse to construct the first experimental telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 3) and last quarter moon (Jan. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the fifth day of 2026 and the 16th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, British Loyalist forces led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold captured and burned Richmond, Virginia.

In 1914, Ford Motor Co. raised basic wages from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day.

In 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced that the U.S. would intervene militarily and economically at the request of any Middle Eastern nation in response to the spread of communism.

In 2005, the dwarf planet Eris was discovered.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: King Camp Gillette (1855-1932), safety razor inventor; George Reeves (1914-1959), actor; Jane Wyman (1917-2007), actress; Walter Mondale (1928-2021), former U.S. vice president; Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), dancer/choreographer; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor; Umberto Eco (1932-2016), author/philosopher; Juan Carlos (1938- ), former king of Spain; Diane Keaton (1946-2025), actress; Clancy Brown (1959- ), actor; Bradley Cooper (1975- ), actor; January Jones (1978- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The safety razor was one of the first disposable products ever made.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2004, Pete Rose admitted to gambling on baseball games while serving as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "The world condemns liars who do nothing but lie, even about the most trivial things, and it rewards poets, who lie only about the greatest things." -- Umberto Eco

TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,672 -- performances in the original run of "The Wiz," an adaptation of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," at the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre in New York City, after premiering on this day in 1975.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 3) and last quarter moon (Jan. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the fourth day of 2026 and the 15th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1896, Utah was admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson presented the "Great Society" plan in his State of the Union address.

In 1995, the 104th U.S. Congress convened with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time since the Eisenhower presidency.

In 2004, NASA's Spirit rover landed on the surface of Mars.

In 2010, the 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as the world's tallest building.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Louis Braille (1809-1852), Braille alphabet inventor; Don Shula (1930-2020), football coach; Floyd Patterson (1935-2006), boxer; Dyan Cannon (1937- ), actress; Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943- ), historian; Patty Loveless (1957- ), singer-songwriter; Michael Stipe (1960- ), singer-songwriter; Dave Foley (1963- ), actor/comedian; Julia Ormond (1965- ), actress; Kris Bryant (1992- ), baseball player; Derrick Henry (1994- ), football player; Victor Wembanyama (2004- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Medicare, one of the largest reforms passed as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives, insured 19% of Americans in 2025.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 2003, the Atlanta Falcons upset the Green Bay Packers, 27-7, in the wild-card round of the playoffs. It was the first playoff loss at Lambeau Field in Packers history.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I shall always be grateful for this curious love of history, allowing me to spend a lifetime looking back into the past, allowing me to learn from these large figures about the struggle for meaning for life." -- Doris Kearns Goodwin

TODAY'S NUMBER: $1.5 billion -- estimated total cost (in U.S. dollars) of the Burj Khalifa project.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 3) and last quarter moon (Jan. 10).