Today is the sixth day of 2015 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 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the "Four Freedoms" in his State of the Union address.

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

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Jedediah Smith (1799-1831), explorer/author; Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet; Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), poet/novelist; Danny Thomas (1912-1991), actor/comedian; Loretta Young (1913-2000), actress; Lou Holtz (1937- ), football coach/sportscaster; Rowan Atkinson (1955- ), actor/comedian; Nancy Lopez (1957- ), golfer; Howie Long (1960- ), football player/broadcaster; John Singleton (1968- ), filmmaker; Norman Reedus (1969- ), actor.

TODAY'S FACT: Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" 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.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment." -- 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. 4) and last quarter moon (Jan. 13).

Today is the fifth day of 2015 and the 16th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, British 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 other nations 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- ), former U.S. vice president; Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), dancer/choreographer; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor; Umberto Eco (1932- ), author/philosopher; Juan Carlos (1938- ), king of Spain; Charlie Rose (1942- ), talk show host; Diane Keaton (1946- ), actress; Bradley Cooper (1975- ), actor; January Jones (1978- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: King Camp Gillette invented the safety razor, a product that consumers would need to purchase repeatedly. His 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: "Political image is like mixing cement. When it's wet, you can move it around and shape it, but at some point it hardens and there's almost nothing you can do to reshape it." -- Walter Mondale

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 4) and last quarter moon (Jan. 13).

Today is the fourth day of 2015 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- ), 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.

TODAY'S FACT: Medicare, one of the largest reforms passed as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives, insured 53.8 million Americans in 2014.

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: "It is empty to plead that the solution to the dilemmas of the present rests on the hands of the clock. The solution is in our hands." -- Lyndon Johnson

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

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Jan. 4).