Today is Thursday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2017. There are 325 days left in the year.

Birthdays: Television journalist Roger Mudd is 89. Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee is 77. Singer-songwriter Carole King is 75. Actor Joe Pesci is 74. Author Alice Walker is 73. Actress Mia Farrow is 72. Former senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, is 71. Singer Joe Ely is 70. Actress Judith Light is 68. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is 60. Country singer Travis Tritt is 54. Actor Charlie Day is 41. Actress Ziyi Zhang is 38.

In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate states.

In 1870, the US Weather Bureau was established.

In 1942, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II. Daylight-saving ‘‘War Time’’ went into effect in the United States.

In 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific ended with an Allied victory over Japanese forces.

In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, W.Va, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin, charged the State Department was riddled with Communists.

In 1964, The Beatles made their first live US television appearance on ‘‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’’

In 1971, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in California’s San Fernando Valley claimed 65 lives.

In 2012, the Pentagon formally opened thousands of jobs to women in units that were closer to the front lines than ever before.

Last year, Republican Donald Trump posted a decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary, while Democrats lined up behind Bernie Sanders in their own act of anti-establishment defiance.