ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the fifth day of 2026 and the 16th day of winter.

TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1781, British Loyalist 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 any Middle Eastern nation 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 (1928-2021), former U.S. vice president; Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), dancer/choreographer; Robert Duvall (1931- ), actor; Umberto Eco (1932-2016), author/philosopher; Juan Carlos (1938- ), former king of Spain; Diane Keaton (1946-2025), actress; Clancy Brown (1959- ), actor; Bradley Cooper (1975- ), actor; January Jones (1978- ), actress.

TODAY'S FACT: The safety 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: "The world condemns liars who do nothing but lie, even about the most trivial things, and it rewards poets, who lie only about the greatest things." -- Umberto Eco

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 3) and last quarter moon (Jan. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the fourth day of 2026 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 (1930-2020), 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; Kris Bryant (1992- ), baseball player; Derrick Henry (1994- ), football player; Victor Wembanyama (2004- ), basketball player.

TODAY'S FACT: Medicare, one of the largest reforms passed as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives, insured 19% of Americans in 2025.

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: "I shall always be grateful for this curious love of history, allowing me to spend a lifetime looking back into the past, allowing me to learn from these large figures about the struggle for meaning for life." -- Doris Kearns Goodwin

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

TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (Jan. 3) and last quarter moon (Jan. 10).

ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC

Today is the third day of 2026 and the 14th day of winter.

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

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

In 1959, Alaska was admitted as the 49th state.

In 1993, President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II).

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), abolitionist/women's rights pioneer; J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), author; Victor Borge (1909-2000), comedian/pianist; Hank Stram (1923-2005), football coach; Sergio Leone (1929-1989), director; Robert Loggia (1930-2015), actor; Glen A. Larson (1937-2014), TV producer/writer; Victoria Principal (1950- ), actress; Cheryl Miller (1964- ), basketball player/coach; Michael Schumacher (1969- ), race car driver; Eli Manning (1981- ), football player; Florence Pugh (1996- ), actress; Greta Thunberg (2003- ), activist.

TODAY'S FACT: Alaska is the only U.S. state where all three of North America's bear species -- black, brown and polar -- live.

TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1983, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett became the first player in NFL history to run 99 yards from scrimmage for a touchdown.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it." -- J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Children of Hurin"

TODAY'S NUMBER: 740,133 -- estimated population of the state of Alaska in 2024 -- more than triple the population of the state at the time it attained statehood.

TODAY'S MOON: Full moon (Jan. 3).