Today is Wednesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2025
with 315 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
On this date in history:
In 1878, Thomas Edison patented the first gramophone. Edison, who also invented the incandescent light bulb and motion picture camera, died in 1931.
In 1922, vaudeville star Ed Wynn became the first big name in show business to sign for a regular radio show.
In 1942, as a security measure during World War II, the U.S. government began relocating Japanese-Americans living in coastal Pacific areas to internment camps in remote areas of several states. They were allowed to return to their homes in January 1945.
In 1945, U.S. Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima, opening one of the major battles in the Pacific during World War II.
In 1981, the United States blamed insurgency in El Salvador on communist powers arming leftist guerrillas.
In 1986, the Soviet Union launched the Mir space station. It was occupied for 10 of its 15 years in orbit.
In 1997, China's "paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping died at age 92.
In 2003, all 275 people aboard an Iranian military transport plane were killed when it crashed in a mountainous region of southeastern Iran.
In 2005, U.S. Roman Catholic officials said they received 1,092 charges of clergy sex abuse, most involving boys.
In 2008, Cuban President Fidel Castro, 81, who temporarily handed power to his brother, Raul, in July 2006, because of illness, stepped down permanently after 49 years in power. Raul, 76, then formally succeeded him.
In 2020, a gunman opened fire at multiple locations, including two bars, in Hanau, Germany, killing 10 people, then himself. Authorities said the perpetrator was a far-right extremist who targeted hookah bars frequented by Turkish-Kurdish customers.
In 2023, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 in double overtime after a slew of late wrecks that pushed the race to a record 212 laps in Daytona, Fla. Former NBA player Brad Daugherty became the first Black owner to win the Daytona 500 and part-owner Jodi Geschickter became the first woman.
