TODAY IN HISTORY

Monday, February 18, 2019

Today is the 49th day of 2019 and the 60th day of winter. TODAY'S HISTORY In 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1885, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published.

In 1930, astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Planet X, the dwarf planet later renamed Pluto.

In 2001, FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union and Russia. TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), artist/designer; Charles M. Schwab (18621939), businessman; Jack Palance (19192006), actor; Toni Morrison (1931- ), author; Milos Forman (1932-2018), filmmaker; Yoko Ono (1933- ), singer/performance artist; John Hughes (1950-2009), filmmaker; John Travolta (1954- ), actor; Vanna White (1957), TV personality; Matt Dillon (1964- ), actor; Dr. Dre (1965), rapper/record producer; Jillian Michaels (1974- ), TV personality; Le'veon Bell (1992- ), football player.

TODAY'S FACT Snow has fallen on the Sahara Desert only twice in recorded weather history: on this date in 1979 and on Jan. 17, 2012. TODAY'S SPORTS In 2001, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. was fatally injured in a threecar crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500. TODAY'S QUOTE "If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." -- Toni Morrison TODAY'S NUMBER 5th -- place held by "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" on the American Library Association's list of books whose availability in schools and libraries was most frequently challenged in the 1990s. For the decade ending in 2009, it had dropped to 14th place. TODAY'S MOON Between first quarter moon (Feb. 12) and full moon (Feb. 19).