Today is the fourth day of 2013 and the 15th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1920, the Negro National League, the first black professional baseball league, was established.

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

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Isaac Newton (1642-1727), mathematician/ physicist; Louis Braille (1809-1852), Braille alphabet inventor; Floyd Patterson (1935-2006), boxer; Dyan Cannon (1937- ), actress; Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943- ), historian; Patty Loveless (1957- ), singer; Michael Stipe (1960- ), rock musician; Julia Ormond (1965- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1991, 12-year-old Fu Mingxia from China won the women's 10-meter platform at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia, becoming the youngest aquatic world champion ever.

TODAY'S FACT: Medicare, one of the largest reforms passed as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives, now insures 47.5 million Americans.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "It's easy to do anything in victory. It's in defeat that a man reveals himself." -- Floyd Patterson

TODAY'S NUMBER: 17 -- Negro League and pre-Negro League members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

TODAY'S MOON: Last quarter moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the third day of 2013 and the 14th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1777, Revolutionary forces under the command of George Washington defeated the British at Princeton, N.J.

In 1947, a session of Congress was televised for the first time to viewers in three East Coast cities.

In 1959, Alaska entered the union as the 49th state.

In 2004, the unmanned NASA spacecraft Spirit landed on Mars.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), women's rights pioneer; J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), author; Victor Borge (1909-2000), comedian/pianist; Robert Loggia (1930- ), actor; Victoria Principal (1950- ), actress; Mel Gibson (1956- ), actor; Danica McKellar (1975- ), actress; Eli Manning (1981- ), football player.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett set an NFL record that still stands by running 99 yards from scrimmage for a touchdown.

TODAY'S FACT: C-SPAN was launched in 1979 to "provide live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives." C-SPAN2, covering the Senate, was launched in 1986.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth." -- Lucretia Mott

TODAY'S NUMBER: 722,718 -- population of the state of Alaska in 2011 -- more than triple the population of the state at the time it attained statehood.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 28) and last quarter moon (Jan. 4).

Today is the second day of 2013 and the 13th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1492, the Moors were driven out of Spain as Granada fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation that required all states to institute a 55-mph highway speed limit or lose federal highway aid.

In 2006, a methane gas explosion in a Sago, W.Va., coal mine trapped 13 miners. Only one survived.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998), composer; Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), writer; Roger Miller (1936-1992), singer/songwriter; Tia Carrere (1967- ), actress; Cuba Gooding Jr. (1968- ), actor; Christy Turlington (1969- ), model; Taye Diggs (1971- ), actor; Dax Shepard (1975- ), actor; Kate Bosworth (1983- ), actress.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1984, Miami upset heavily favored Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 31-30, as Nebraska failed on a two-point conversion at game's end.

TODAY'S FACT: Castillian Spanish is the official language of Spain, but Catalan, Galician and Basque are all official regional languages.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Literature is my utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised." -- Helen Keller

TODAY'S NUMBER: 466 -- books written by Isaac Asimov, according to his memoir.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 28) and last quarter moon (Jan. 4).