Today is Monday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2025
with 317 to follow.
This is Presidents' Day in the United States.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
In 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives chose Thomas Jefferson as the third president of the United States after he and Aaron Burr tied in the Electoral College. It took 35 House ballots before Jefferson won and Burr became vice president.
In 1904, Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered in Milan, Italy.
In 1909, Apache leader Geronimo died while under military confinement at Fort Sill, Okla. His grave remains there despite later efforts to move his remains to his native Arizona.
In 1933, Newsweek magazine published its first issue.
In 1968, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opened in Springfield, Mass.
In 1979, China invaded Vietnam in response to the latter's attack on Cambodia. This was the start of the monthlong Sino-Vietnamese War, which tens of thousands dead.
In 1993, a ferry capsized during stormy weather off the western coast of Haiti, killing more than 500 people.
In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush nominated John Negroponte to be the first director of national intelligence. Negroponte assumed office the following month.
In 2006, a landslide that covered a village in Leyte in the central Philippines killed more than 1,100 people, including scores of children in an elementary school that was buried by mud and boulders.
In 2008, the province of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Thousands of ethnic Albanians celebrated in the streets but others resorted to violent protest. The United States and several other countries, including Britain, Germany and France, recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independent state.
In 2009, General Motors and Chrysler asked for an additional $14 billion from the government to keep from going bankrupt. That upped their total requests to $39 billion.
In 2011, the British government advised same-sex couples they could form civil partnerships in church if they wished.
In 2014, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon made its debut on NBC.
In 2024, after months of fighting and inflicting thousands of Russian casualties, Ukrainian military leaders withdrew from the eastern village of Avdiivka.
