ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 359th day of 2021 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 came to be known as 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; Justin Trudeau (1971- ), prime minister of Canada.

TODAY'S FACT: Americans spent $188.2 billion shopping online during the holiday season in 2020.

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

TODAY'S QUOTE: "If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man." -- Rod Serling

TODAY'S NUMBER: 50 million -- units sold of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," making it the best-selling single of all time, according to Guinness World Records. The song debuted on Crosby's weekly radio program, "The Kraft Music Hall," on this day in 1941.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 18) and last quarter moon (Dec. 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 358th day of 2021 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 H.W. 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 (1927-2020), author; Robert Joffrey (1930-1988), dancer/choreographer; Lee Daniels (1959- ), filmmaker; Kate Spade (1962-2018), fashion designer; 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: "Here's the thing: I think the media underestimates the intelligence of the moviegoer. We need to be fulfilled. People want to sit down and think, and I try to make people think." -- Lee Daniels

TODAY'S NUMBER: 34 -- years after his death in 1976 that the estimated $2 billion estate of Howard Hughes, who died without a valid will, was finally settled.

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Dec. 18) and last quarter moon (Dec. 26).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the 357th day of 2021 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; Norman Maclean (1902-1990), author; Akihito (1933- ), emperor of Japan; Harry Shearer (1943- ), actor/comedian; Wesley Clark (1944- ), Army general; Susan Lucci (1946- ), actress; Bill Kristol (1952- ), political commentator; Jim Harbaugh (1963- ), football player/coach; Eddie Vedder (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Finn Wolfhard (2002- ), actor.

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: "I feel like we have to keep our eyes on the road. Being nostalgic is like taking an offramp and getting a sandwich -- and then you get back on the highway. I don't want to be spending the rest of my life at the gas station." -- 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 full moon (Dec. 18) and last quarter moon (Dec. 26).