Today is Friday, February 19, the 50th day of 2010. There are 315 days left in the year.
0356 _ Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples
1861 _ Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom
1878 _ Thomas Alva Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph)
1881 _ Kansas becomes first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages
1923 _ Jean Sibelius' 6th Symphony premieres
1927 _ General strike against British occupiers in Shanghai
1942 _ FDR orders detention and internment of all West-coast Japanese-Americans
1953 _ William Inge's ``Picnic" premieres in New York City
1986 _ USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit
1987 _ Anti-smoking ad airs for first time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner