February 19th

Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples.

The FBI concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, and formally closed the case.

Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba after 49 years in power. Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, succeeded him as president.

New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions to gay couples.

Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was charged with fraud, insider trading and other crimes in connection with the energy trader's collapse.

Deng Xiaoping, the last of China's major Communist revolutionaries, died in Beijing at age 92.

The “Mir” Space Station is launched. The Soviet vehicle was the world's first modular space station and remained in orbit for 15 years.

Iberia Airlines Flight 610 crashes. All 148 people on board died in the accident that was blamed on pilot error.

The first nationwide broadcast of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood aired on PBS.

'The Feminine Mystique' by Betty Friedan was published.

An agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence.

Some 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima and began a month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces during World War II.

President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that resulted in the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast.

Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph.

Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom [NS=Mar 3].

Aaron Burr, vice president under Thomas Jefferson, was arrested for treason. He was later acquitted.

The Netherlands and England signed the Peace of Westminster, by which New Amsterdam passed to the English (and was renamed New York).

The astronomer Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.