Today in History

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023

Today is Sunday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2023. There are 315days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 19, 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.

On this date:

In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr, accused of treason, was arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in present-day Alabama. (Burr was acquitted at trial.) 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 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 month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.

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 1985, the British soap opera “Eastenders” debuted on BBC Television.

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 1997, Deng Xiaoping (dung shah-oh-ping), the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died at age 92.

In 2003, an Iranian military plane carrying 275members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in southeastern Iran, killing all on board.

In 2017, three former elite U.S. gymnasts, including 2000 Olympian Jamie Dantzscher, appeared on CBS’ “60Minutes” to say they were sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar, a volunteer team physician for USA Gymnastics. (Nassar would be sentenced to decades in prison after hundreds of girls and women said he sexually abused them under the guise of medical treatment.) In 2019, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to develop plans for a new Space Force within the Air Force, accepting less than the full-fledged department he had wanted. Ten years ago: The United Nations said the number of U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan had risen sharply in 2012 compared with 2011. A bail hearing began in Pretoria, South Africa, for double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius, charged with killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day; the defense said Pistorius had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder while prosecutors said he had deliberately opened fire on Steenkamp as she cowered behind a locked bathroom door.

Five years ago: Syrian government forces began a bombing campaign in the northeastern suburbs of Damascus, the last major stronghold for rebels in the area of the capital; the campaign left hundreds dead. President Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney in Utah’s Senate race, a sign that the two Republicans were burying the hatchet after a strained relationship. The U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team reached the title game, shutting out Finland 5-0 in the semifinals. One year ago: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, facing a sharp spike in violence in and around territory held by Russia-backed rebels and increasingly dire warnings that Russia plans to invade, called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him and seek a resolution to the crisis. Vice President Kamala Harris says the world had arrived at “a decisive moment in history” and that the United States was committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty against the threat of what the West called an imminent threat of invasion by Russia. (Russia would invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.) China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong captured the Olympic gold medal that eluded them by a razor-thin margin four years earlier, edging Russian rivals Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov to win the pairs figure skating competition at the Beijing Games. Today’s birthdays: Singer Smokey Robinson is 83. Singer and actor Carlin Glynn is 83. Former Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer is 81. Singer Lou Christie is 80. Rock musician Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) is 75. Actor Stephen Nichols is 72. Author Amy Tan is 71. Actor Jeff Daniels is 68. Rock singer-musician Dave Wakeling is 67. Talk show host Lorianne Crook is 66. Actor Ray Winstone is 66.

Actor Leslie David Baker is 65. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is 64. Britain’s Prince Andrew is 63. Tennis Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova is 61. Singer Seal is 60. Actor Jessica Tuck is 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 is

38. Actor Arielle Kebbel is

38. Christian rock musician Seth Morrison (Skillet) is

35. Actor Luke Pasqualino is 33. Actor Victoria Justice is 30. Actor David Mazouz (TV: “Gotham”) is 22. Actor Millie Bobby Brown is 19.

Monday, Feb. 21, 2023

Today is Monday, Feb. 21, the 51st day of 2023. There are 314days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800miles southeast of Bermuda.

On this date:

In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department. In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.

In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an immigration act which excluded “idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics, insane persons” from being admitted to the United States.

In 1933, Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to repeal Prohibition.

In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

In 1965, America’s Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.

In 1987, a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright.

In 1998, Tara Lipinski of the U.S. won the ladies’ figure skating gold medal at the Nagano (Nah’-guh-noh) Olympics; Michelle Kwan won the silver.

In 2003, a fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.

In 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.

In 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.

Ten years ago: The Obama administration announced a broad new effort to fight the growing theft of American trade secrets following fresh evidence linking cyberstealing to China’s military. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-ill., entered a guilty plea in federal court to criminal charges that he’d engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items; his wife, Sandra Jackson, pleaded guilty to filing false joint federal income tax returns.

Five years ago: Students who survived a Parkland, Florida school shooting traveled to Tallahassee to urge state lawmakers to prevent another massacre, but procedural moves in the legislature effectively halted any effort to ban assault-style rifles like the one used in the attack. President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to move to ban devices like the rapid-fire bump stocks used in the Las Vegas massacre. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated figure skaters in history, capturing the gold medal in ice dancing on Day 11 of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

One year ago: Russia extended military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s president appealed for a cease-fire. (Russia would invade four days later.) The White House said President Joe Biden would nominate a Black woman with “impeccable experience” for a vacancy on the Supreme Court. (Biden would nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson for the seat on Feb. 25.) In his former home arena in Cleveland, Lebron James led his team to a 163-160victory over a team led by Kevin Durant in the NBA All-star Game. Today’s birthdays: Racing Hall of Famer Roger Penske is 86. Singer-songwriter

Buffy Sainte-marie is 82. Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito is 81. Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., is 81. Movie director Mike Leigh is 80. Actor Brenda Blethyn is 77. Actor Sandy Duncan is 77. Actor Peter Strauss is 76. Rock musician Billy Zoom (X) is 75. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is 72. Actor John Voldstad is 72. Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is

69. Actor Anthony Head is

69. Country singer Leland Martin is 66. Actor James Wilby is 65. Rock musician Sebastian Steinberg is

64. Comedian Joel Hodgson is 63. Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is 60. Rock musician Ian Brown (Stone Roses) is

60. Actor French Stewart is 59. Actor Ron Eldard is

58. Model Cindy Crawford is 57. Actor Andrew Shue is

56. Actor Lili Taylor is 56. Actor Andrea Savage is 50. Singer Brian Littrell is 48. Actor Lauren Ambrose is

45. Actor Jay Hernandez is

45. Actor Chelsea Peretti is

45. Country musician Coy Bowles is 44. Actor Michael Zegen is 44. Actor Majandra Delfino is 42. Actor Jocko Sims is 42. Singer-musician Chris Thile is 42. Actorsinger Jessie Mueller is 40. MLB All-star pitcher Justin Verlander is 40. Comedian Trevor Noah is 39. Actor Jake Richardson is 38. Actor Daniella Pineda is 36. Actor Miles Teller is 36. Singer Rihanna is 35. Actor Jack Falahee is 34.