DAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Today is the 50th day of 2020 and the 61st day of winter.

TODAY’S HISTORY:

In 1807, former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested for treason.

In 1878, Thomas Edison received a patent for the phonograph.

In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing the internment of Japanese-americans.

In 1945, about 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima.

In 1963, Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” was published, sparking a new wave of feminism in the United States.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), astronomer; Lee Marvin (1924-1987), actor; John Frankenheimer (1930-2002), director; Smokey Robinson (1940), singer-songwriter; Amy Tan (1952- ), author; Jeff Daniels (1955- ), actor; Ray Winstone (1957- ), actor; Roger Goodell (1959- ), NFL commissioner; Seal (1963- ), singer-songwriter; Jonathan Lethem (1964- ), author; Benicio Del Toro (1967- ), actor; Jeff Kinney (1971), cartoonist/children’s author; David Mazouz (2001- ), actor; Millie Bobby Brown (2004- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: The hottest planet in the solar system is Venus, with an average surface temperature of 867 degrees F.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1995, Sterling Marlin became the third person in the race’s history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s, a feat that has not been accomplished since.

TODAY’S QUOTE:

“Apologies aren’t something you want to get in the habit of practicing in the mirror.” -- Jonathan Lethem, “Gun, With Occasional Music”

TODAY’S NUMBER:

33,000 -- number of Japanese-americans who served in the U.S. military in World War II.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Feb. 15) and new moon (Feb. 23).