February 19 - Events

Events

• 197 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
• 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his motherCatherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.
• 1600 – The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.
• 1674 – England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamedNew York.
• 1807 – In Alabama, Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason and confined to Fort Stoddert.
• 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.
• 1846 – In Austin, Texas the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following Texas' annexationby the United States.
• 1847 – The first group of rescuers reaches the Donner Party.
• 1852 – The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1859 – Daniel E. Sickles, NY congressman, is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. This is the 1st time this defense is successfully used in the United States.
• 1861 – Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
• 1864 – Knights of Pythias are founded in Washington, D.C. by Justus H. Rathbone.
• 1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
• 1884 – The Enigma tornado outbreak occurs.
• 1921 – Reza Pahlavi takes control of Teheran during a successful coup
• 1937 – During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritreannationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades.
• 1942 – World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing 243 people.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocateJapanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.
• 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.
• 1945 – World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima – about 30,000 United States Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
• 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.
• 1953 – Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.
• 1959 – The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.
• 1963 – The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the Feminist Movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness-raising groups spread.
• 1972 – The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
• 1976 – Executive Order 9066 is rescinded by President Gerald R. Ford's Proclamation 4417
• 1978 – Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130transport plane in open combat.
• 1985 – Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.
• 1985 – Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.
• 1986 – Akkaraipattu massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 80 Tamil farm workers the eastern province of Sri Lanka.
• 1986 – The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for 10 of those years.
• 1999 – President Bill Clinton issues a posthumous pardon for U.S. Army Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper.
• 2001 – The Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• 2002 – NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.