February 19

Today in History
• 356 - Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples
• 607 - Boniface III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
• 1700 - Last day of Julian calendar in Denmark
• 1803 - Congress accepts Ohio's constitution, statehood not ratified till 1953
• 1831 - 1st practical U.S. coal-burning locomotive makes 1st trial run, Pennsylvania
• 1846 - Texas state government formally installed in Austin
• 1856 - Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
• 1881 - Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Fastelavn
• Iwo Jima Day
• National Chocolate Mint Day
• Orthodox Meatfare Sunday
• Prevent Plagiarism Day
• Shivaji Jayanti
• U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Birthday
• World Whale Day

Birthdays
• 1473 - Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer who theorized that planets revolve around the sun
• 1588 - Pieter de Carpentier, Flemish governor-general of Dutch East-Indies
• 1630 - Shivaji Bhonsle, Indian warrior and founder of the Maratha Empire
• 1683 - Philip V, France, King of Spain, 1700-24, 24-46
• 1755 - Pieter G van Overstraten, governor-general of Netherlands-Indies
• 1817 - Willem III, last male King of Netherlands, 1849-90
• 1863 - Augusto Bernardino Leguia y Salcedo, president of Peru, 1908, 1919
• 1881 - Evert Gorter, founder of Dutch medical child care