Today is the 40th day of 2016 and the 50th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America.

In 1895, the game of volleyball (then called Mintonette) was created in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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: No candidate took the majority of the electoral votes in the presidential election of 1824. As a result, the decision fell to the House of Representatives, which elected John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson on this day in 1825.

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: "But please remember, especially in these times of group-think and the right-on chorus, that no person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended." -- Alice Walker

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 new moon (Feb. 8) and first quarter moon (Feb. 15).

Today is the 39th day of 2016 and the 49th 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; Bruce Timm (1961- ), animator; Gary Coleman (1968-2010), actor; Mary McCormack (1969- ), actress; Seth Green (1974- ), actor/producer.

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 willpower can give in to despair." -- Jules Verne, "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 2.4 million -- youth membership of the Boy Scouts of America in 2014.

TODAY'S MOON: New moon (Feb. 8).

Today is the 38th day of 2016 and the 48th 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.

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 622,793 in 2014, making it the 26th-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, as certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.

TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Jan. 31) and new moon (Feb. 8).