Today is Tuesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2019. There are 315 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On Feb. 19, 1968, the children’s program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” created by and starring Fred Rogers, made its network debut on National Educational Television, a forerunner of PBS, beginning a 31-season run.
On this date:
In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.
In 1881, Kansas prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
In 1934, a blizzard began inundating the northeastern United States, with the heaviest snowfall occurring in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
In 1963, “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan was first published by W.W. Norton & Co.
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 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.
Today’s birthdays: Singer Smokey Robinson is 79. Actress Carlin Glynn is 79. Author Amy Tan is 67. Actor Jeff Daniels is 64. Rock singer-musician Dave Wakeling is 63. Talk show host Lorianne Crook is 62. Tennis Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova is 57. Singer Seal is 56.
Thought for today: “Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.” — Betty Smith, American author (1896-1972).
— Associated Press
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