Today is the 52nd day of 2023 and the 63rd day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1842, John Greenough received the first U.S. patent for a sewing machine.

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto.”

In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by three members of the Nation of Islam at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China while in office.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Leo Delibes (1836-1891), composer; Anais Nin (1903-1977), author; John Rawls (19212002), philosopher; Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984), film director; Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), humorist; David Geffen (1943- ), record producer/ filmmaker; Alan Rickman (1946-2016), actor; William Petersen (1953- ), actor; Kelsey Grammer (1955- ), actor; Mary Chapin Carpenter (1958- ), singer-songwriter; Chuck Palahniuk (1962- ), author; David Foster Wallace (1962-2008), author; Mark and Scott Kelly (1964- ), astronauts; Tituss Burgess (1979- ), actor; Jordan Peele (1979- ), actor/filmmaker; Elliot Page (1987- ), actor; Sophie Turner (1996- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: The first issue of The New Yorker was published on this day in 1925.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1948, race car driver Bill France and various members of the auto racing community formed the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

TODAY’S QUOTE: “The scariest monster in the world is human beings and what we are capable of, especially when we get together.” -- Jordan Peele TODAY’S NUMBER: 555 height (in feet) of the Washington Monument, dedicated on this day in 1885.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (Feb. 20) and first quarter moon (Feb. 27).