On this day, Feb. 20
1792 President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department.
1862 William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-yearold son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.
1905 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.
1907 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an immigration act which excluded “idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics, insane persons” from being admitted to the United States.
1933 Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.
1938 Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
1965 America’s Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.
1987 A bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright.
1998 Tara Lipinski of the U.S. won the ladies’ figure skating gold medal at the Nagano Olympics; Michelle Kwan won the silver.
2003 A fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.
2005 Death claimed actor Sandra Dee at age 62; musical actor John Raitt at age 88; and counterculture writer Hunter S. Thompson at age 67.
2020 A poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found more Americans expressing some concern about catching the flu than about catching the coronavirus.
Today’s birthdays: Racing Hall of Famer Roger Penske, 86. Singer-songwriter Buffy
Sainte-Marie 82. Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, 81. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., 81. Movie director Mike Leigh, 80. Actor Brenda Blethyn, 77. Actor Sandy Duncan, 77. Actor Peter Strauss, 76. Rock musician Billy Zoom (X), 75. Actor John Voldstad, 72. Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, 69. Actor Anthony Head, 69. Actor James Wilby, 65. Rock musician Sebastian Steinberg, 64. Comedian Joel Hodgson, 63. Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, 60. Model Cindy Crawford, 57. Actor Andrew Shue, 56. Actor Lili Taylor, 56. Actor Andrea Savage, 50. Singer Brian Littrell, 48. Actor Lauren Ambrose, 45. Actor Jay Hernandez, 45. Country musician Coy Bowles, 44. Actor Michael Zegen, 44. Actor Majandra Delfino, 42. Actor Jocko Sims, 42. Singermusician Chris Thile, 42. Actor-singer Jessie Mueller, 40. MLB All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander, 40. Comedian Trevor Noah, 39. Actor Jake Richardson, 38. Actor Daniella Pineda, 36. Actor Miles Teller, 36. Singer Rihanna, 35.