On this day 19th February
Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com
Facts
356 Emperor Constantius II shuts all heathen temples
1600 Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in South American recorded history
1861 Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom [NS=Mar 3]
1878 Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his gramophone (phonograph)
1942 About 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin
1945 US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines
1963 USSR informs JFK it is withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba
1985 150 killed when a Spanish jetliner crashes approaching Bilbao, Spain
2008 Toshiba announces its formal recall of its HD DVD video formatting, ending the format war between it and Sony's Blu-Ray Disc
Deaths
197 D Clodius Septimus Albinus, Roman bequest in England, dies in battle
1553 Erasmus Reinhold, German mathematician, dies at 41
1892 Monty Bowden, cricket captain (England v South Africa 1889), dies at 26
1933 Arnold Mendelssohn, German composer, dies at 77
1951 Andre Gide, French writer (Lafcadio's Adventures-Nobel 1947), dies of pneumonia at 81
1986 Paul Stewart, American actor (Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly), dies from a heart attack at 77
1997 Deng Xiaoping, Chinese revolutionary and paramount leader of China (1978-92), dies at 92
2003 Johnny PayCheck, American country singer/songwriter (b. 1938)
2016 [Nelle] Harper Lee, American author (To Kill a Mockingbird), dies at 89
Sport
1980 Botham a century & 13 wickets in Jubilee Test Cricket at Bombay
1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 1000m in 1:15.18
1983 Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 400 m free style swimming record
1998 US hockey team destroys their rooms at Olympic village in Japan
Films and TV
1987 Anti-smoking ad airs for 1st time on TV, featuring Yul Brynner: he died of smoking-induced lung cancer on 10th October 1985
2006 59th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): "Brokeback Mountain" Best Film, Ang Lee Best Director
Born on this day
1960 Prince Andrew, Albert Christian Edward, of Britain/Duke of York
1963 Seal, English singer-songwriter (Killer, Crazy, Kiss by a Rose), born in London
A Couple of Pics from those no longer with us
Johnny PayCheck
Harper Lee