TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, FEB. 19, the 50th day of 2021. There are 315 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the relocation and internment of people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens. Imperial Japanese warplanes raided the Australian city of Darwin; at least 243 people were killed.
In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr, accused of treason, was arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in presentday Alabama. (Burr was acquitted at trial.)
In 1846, the Texas state government was formally installed in Austin, with J. Pinckney Henderson taking the oath of office as governor.
In 1878, Thomas Edison received a U.S. patent for “an improvement in phonograph or speaking machines.”
In 1945, Operation Detachment began during World War II as some 30,000 U.S. Marines began landing on Iwo Jima, where they commenced a successful monthlong battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.
In 1968, the children’s program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” created by and starring Fred Rogers, made its network debut on National Educational Television, a forerunner of PBS, beginning a 31-season run.
In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, calling the issuing of the internment order for people of Japanese ancestry in 1942 “a sad day in American history,” signed a proclamation formally confirming its termination.
In 1986, the U.S. Senate approved, 83-11, the Genocide Convention, an international treaty outlawing “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” nearly 37 years after the pact was first submitted for ratification.
In 1992, Irish Republican Army member Joseph Doherty was deported from the United States to Northern Ireland following a nine-year battle for political asylum. (Doherty was imprisoned for the killing of a British army commando in 1980; he was freed in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement.)
In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died at age 92.
In 2003, an Iranian military plane carrying 275 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in southeastern Iran, killing all on board. In 2008, an ailing Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency after nearly a half-century in power; his brother Raul was later named to succeed him.
In 2019, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to develop plans for a new Space Force within the Air Force, accepting less than the fullfledged department he had wanted. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Smokey Robinson and actor Carlin Glynn are 81. Former Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer is 79. Actor Michael Nader is 76. Rock musician Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) is 73. Author Amy Tan is 69. Actor Jeff Daniels is 66. Rock singer-musician Dave Wakeling is 65. Talk show host Lorianne Crook and actor Ray Winstone are 64. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is 62. Britain’s Prince Andrew is 61. Tennis Hall-of-Famer Hana Mandlikova is 59. Singer Seal and actor Jessica Tuck are 58. Country musician Ralph McCauley (Wild Horses) is 57. Rock musician Jon Fishman (Phish) is 56. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 54. Actor Bellamy Young is 51. Rock musician Daniel Adair is 46. Pop singer-actor Haylie Duff and actor Arielle Kebbel are 36. Christian rock musician Seth Morrison (Skillet) is 33. Actor Luke Pasqualino is 31. Actor Victoria Justice is 28. Actor David Mazouz (TV: “Gotham”) is 20. Actor Millie Bobby Brown is 17.