Saturday, December 31, 2022 Today is the 365th day of 2022 and the 11th day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed a bill admitting West Virginia into the United States.

In 1879, Thomas Edison staged the first public demonstration of the electric lightbulb.

In 1999, the United States handed over complete control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

In 2020, the World Health Organization validated the COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Henri Matisse (1869-1954), artist; Elizabeth Arden (1878-1966), businesswoman; George C. Marshall (18801959), U.S. military commander/ diplomat; Anthony Hopkins (1937- ), actor; John Denver (1943-1997), singersongwriter; Ben Kingsley (1943- ), actor; Diane von Furstenberg (1946- ), fashion designer; Donna Summer (1948-2012), singer; Bebe Neuwirth (1958- ), actress; Val Kilmer (1959- ), actor; Lance Reddick (1962- ), actor; Nicholas Sparks (1965- ), writer; Gabby Douglas (1995), gymnast.

TODAY’S FACT: West Virginia, a new state created from Virginia counties that chose not to secede from the Union, was originally named Kanawha, after the Kanawha River.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1967, Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers defeated Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game, 21-17, in subzero weather. The game became known as the “Ice Bowl.” Green Bay went on to defeat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “ I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life -- whoever you are, whatever our differences.” -- John Denver

TODAY’S NUMBER: 3,987 -- length in miles of the border between Canada and the lower 48 states.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 29) and full moon (Jan.6).

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Today is the first day of 2023 and the 12th day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing slaves in Confederate states.

In 1892, the Ellis Island immigration station opened in New York City.

In 1908, the first Times Square “ball drop” triggered a fireworks show celebrating the new year.

In 1912, the Republic of China was established.

In 1994, provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Paul Revere (1735-1818), American patriot; Betsy Ross (1752-1836), seamstress/U.S. flag designer; E.M. Forster (1879-1970), author; J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), FBI director; J.D. Salinger (19192010), author; Charlie Munger (1924- ), businessman/philanthropist; Frank Langella (1938- ), actor; Grandmaster Flash (1958- ), musician; Derrick Thomas (1967-2000), football player; Morris Chestnut (1969- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, considered the first of some 78 million post-World War II “baby boomers” in the U.S., was born in Philadelphia one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1902, the University of Michigan Wolverines defeated Stanford University, 49-0, in the first college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands, and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.” -- J.D. Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye” TODAY’S NUMBER: 1 million -- people processed through the Ellis Island immigration station in 1907, the peak year for immigration to the United States.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 29) and full moon (Jan.6).

Monday, January 2, 2023 Today is the second day of 2023 and the 13th day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1492, the Moors were driven out of Spain as Granada fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella.

In 1967, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as governor of California.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation instituting a 55-mph highway speed limit in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.

In 2006, a methane gas explosion in a Sago, West Virginia, coal mine trapped 13 miners. Only one survived.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Michael Tippett (1905-1998), composer; Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), author; Roger Miller (1936-1992), singersongwriter; Jack Hanna (1947- ), zoologist; David Cone (1963- ), baseball player/ sportscaster; Pernell Whitaker (1964-2019), boxer; Tia Carrere (1967- ), actress; Cuba Gooding Jr. (1968- ), actor; Tommy Morrison (1969-2013), boxer; Christy Turlington (1969- ), model; Taye Diggs (1971- ), singer/ actor; Dax Shepard (1975- ), actor; Kate Bosworth (1983), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Castilian Spanish is the official language of Spain, but Catalan, Galician, Basque and Aranese are all official regional languages.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1984, Miami upset heavily favored Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, 31-30, as Nebraska failed on a two-point conversion at game’s end.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Antiintellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’” -- Isaac Asimov

TODAY’S NUMBER: 26,284 -- miles on the odometer of a rare, unrestored 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atlante Coupe found in the garage of a British doctor and reported by media outlets on this day in 2009. One of only 17 ever made, the car sold at a Paris auction a month later for $4.4 million.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (Dec. 29) and full moon (Jan. 6).