Today is the 359th day of 2014 and the fifth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1868, President Andrew Johnson unconditionally pardoned all those who had participated in the Southern rebellion that led to the Civil War.

In 1974, 25-year-old Marshall Fields crashed his car through a White House gate and threatened to detonate a bomb; he surrendered after a four-hour standoff.

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee launched the first World Wide Web server.

In 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president. The Soviet Union was officially dissolved the next day.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), scientist; Clara Barton (1821-1912), American Red Cross founder; Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), actor; Cab Calloway (1907-1994), bandleader/singer; Anwar Sadat (1918-1981), Egyptian president; Rod Serling (1924-1975), screenwriter/producer; Jimmy Buffett (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Sissy Spacek (1949- ), actress; Karl Rove (1950- ), political strategist; Annie Lennox (1954- ), singer; Rickey Henderson (1958- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Americans spent $46.5 billion shopping online during the holiday season in 2013.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1989, former New York Yankees player and manager Billy Martin died in an automobile accident.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it." -- Clara Barton

TODAY'S NUMBER: $0 -- amount Tim Berners-Lee charges to let people use his Web innovations, including HTML, URLs and HTTP.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Dec. 21) and first quarter moon (Dec. 28).

Today is the 358th day of 2014 and the fourth day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1943, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Allied Commander.

In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit the moon.

In 1973, Congress passed legislation allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to elect a mayor and council with limited authority.

In 1992, President George Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five others associated with the Iran-Contra scandal.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Kit Carson (1809-1868), Army scout/frontiersman; Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), poet/critic; Howard Hughes (1905-1976), businessman/aviator/film producer; Ava Gardner (1922-1990), actress; Mary Higgins Clark (1927- ), author; Robert Joffrey (1930-1988), dancer/choreographer; Kate Spade (1962- ), fashion designer; Ricky Martin (1971- ), singer/actor; Stephenie Meyer (1973- ), author; Ryan Seacrest (1974- ), TV/radio personality.

TODAY'S FACT: Kit Carson left his apprenticeship as a saddle and harness maker to join a wagon train headed west when he was 15 years old.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1950, the Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship by defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, when Lou "The Toe" Groza kicked a field goal with 20 seconds left.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Come to me in my dreams, and then /

By day I shall be well again. / For then the night will more than pay / The hopeless longing of the day." -- Matthew Arnold

TODAY'S NUMBER: 5 -- Academy Awards won by "The Aviator," a 2004 film based on the life of Howard Hughes. The film received 11 nominations.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Dec. 21) and first quarter moon (Dec. 28).

Today is the 357th day of 2014 and the third day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1783, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army.

In 1823, the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") was first published anonymously in the Troy (New York) Sentinel. The poem was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.

In 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was performed at Brigham Hospital in Boston.

In 1986, the lightweight composite aircraft Voyager completed the first nonstop flight around the globe without refueling.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Joseph Smith (1805-1844), religious leader; Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), entrepreneur; Akihito (1933- ), emperor of Japan; Harry Shearer (1943- ), actor/comedian; Wesley Clark (1944- ), Army general; Susan Lucci (1946- ), actress; William Kristol (1952- ), political commentator; Jim Harbaugh (1963- ), football player/coach; Eddie Vedder (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Hanley Ramirez (1983- ), baseball player.

TODAY'S FACT: In 2006, an original handwritten copy of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" sold in a private sale for $280,000.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1972, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders, 13-7, on a bizarre last-second touchdown that became known as the "Immaculate Reception."

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." -- Eddie Vedder

TODAY'S NUMBER: 16 -- survivors of the "Miracle of the Andes" plane crash rescued on this day in 1972, after surviving for more than two months at the crash site in the mountains along the border between Argentina and Chile.

TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (Dec. 21) and first quarter moon (Dec. 28).