THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009

Today is Thursday, February 19, the 50th day of 2009. There are 315 days left in the year.

1807 _ Vice President Aaron Burr arrested in Alabama for treason; later found innocent

1861 _ Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom

1878 _ Thomas A. Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph)

1881 _ Kansas becomes first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages

1927 _ General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai

1942 _ FDR orders detention and internment of all West-coast Japanese-Americans

1944 _ 823 British bombers attack Berlin

1945 _ U.S. 5th Fleet (30,000 US Marines) launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese

1953 _ William Inge's ``Picnic" premieres in New York City

1955 _ South East Asia Collective Defense Treaty goes into effect