This Day in History

On Feb. 19, 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the internment of 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens.

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In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.

In 1847, the first rescuers reached members of the Donner Party, who had been snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains near the California-Nevada border for nearly four months.

In 1878, inventor Thomas Edison was issued a patent for the phonograph.

In 1945, Operation Detachment began during World War II as the first wave of U.S. Marines landed at Iwo Jima, where they commenced a successful monthlong battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, calling the issuing of the 1942 internment order for people of Japanese ancestry "a sad day in American history," signed a proclamation formally confirming its termination.

In 2003, an Iranian military plane carrying members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in southeastern Iran, killing all 275 people on board.

In 2008, an ailing Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency after nearly a half-century in power; his brother Raúl was later named to succeed him.

Today's birthdays: Singer Smokey Robinson is 85. Rock musician Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) is 77. Author Amy Tan is 73. Actor Jeff Daniels is 70. Actor Ray Winstone is 68. Actor Leslie David Baker is 67. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is 66. Tennis Hall of Famer Hana Mandlíková is 63. Singer Seal is 62. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 58. Author-cartoonist Jeff Kinney is 54. NBA center Nikola Jokić is 30. Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan is 27. Actor Millie Bobby Brown is 21.