TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, FEB. 19, the 50th day of 2023. There are 315 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date 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 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.
In 1878, Thomas Edison received a U.S. patent for “an improvement in phonograph or speaking machines.”
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.
In 1959, an agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence.
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 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 singer and actor Carlin Glynn are 83. Former Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer is 81. Actor Jeff Daniels is 68. Rock singer-musician Dave Wakeling is 67. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is 64. Tennis Hall-ofFamer Hana Mandlikova is 61. Singer Seal and actor Jessica Tuck are 60. Rock musician Jon Fishman (Phish) is
58. Actor Justine Bateman is 57. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 56. Actor Bellamy Young is 53. Rock musician Daniel Adair is 48. Pop singer-actor Haylie Duff and actor Arielle Kebbel are 38. Christian rock musician Seth Morrison (Skillet) is
35. Actor Luke Pasqualino is 33. Actor Victoria Justice is 30.