TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Today is Tuesday, February 19, the 50th day of 2013. There are 315 days left in the year.

356 ― Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples

1856 ― Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio

1861 ― Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom

1878 ― Thomas Alva Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph)

1927 ― General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai

1945 ― 900 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in two days

1963 ― USSR informs JFK it's withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba

1969 ― First Test flight of Boeing 747 jumbo jet

1985 ― Mickey Mouse welcomed in China

1986 ― USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit