On This Day: February 19

This is the 50th day of the year.

Fact of the Day: tintype camera

The tintype camera was patented in 1856 by Hamilton Lamphere Smith, professor of natural sciences at Kenyon College in Ohio. The patent was for "photographic pictures on japanned surfaces," and the photographs were collodion positives on black- or chocolate-colored iron plates.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Boniface of Lausanne, St. Barbatus, St. Conrad of Piacenza, and St. Mesrop.

Kentucky: Robert E. Lee Day.

Events

1807 - Aaron Burr, former US vice president, was arrested in Alabama on charges of plotting to annex Spanish territory in Louisiana and Mexico to be used toward the establishment of an independent republic. He was acquitted on the grounds that, although he had conspired against the United States, he was not guilty of treason because he had not engaged in an "overt act," a requirement of treason as specified by the Constitution of the United States of America.

1861 - Russian czar Alexander II abolished serfdom.

1878 - Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph.

1881 - Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1906 - William Kellogg established the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company, selling breakfast cereals. The cereals were originally developed as a health food for psychiatric patients.

1922 - Ed Wynn became the first big-name vaudeville entertainer to sign on as a radio talent.

1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that relocated Japanese-Americans to remote internment camps, which lasted for about 2.5 years.

1945 - Around 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima where they began a month-long battle to take the island from the Japanese in World War II.

1959 - An agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey, and Greece granting independence to Cyprus.

1982 - Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for urinating on The Alamo.

1985 - Cherry Coke was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company.

1986 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir (Мир, which can mean both "world" and "peace" in Russian) space station.

2001 - An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

2005 - The USS Jimmy Carter, the third and last of the Seawolf-class submarines, was commissioned at Groton, Conn.

2006 - The Rolling Stones stage the world's largest rock concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2008 - After a lengthy illness, Fidel Castro announced he is stepping down as president of Cuba.

Births

1473 - Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernick), Polish astronomer, known as the "Father of Modern Astronomy."

1865 - Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer of Tibet, scientist.

1912 - Stan Kenton, American jazz bandleader.

1917 - Carson McCullers, American novelist.

1952 - Amy Tan, American novelist.

1963 - Seal (born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel), English Afro-European soul vocalist and songwriter.

1975 - Daewon Song, Korean pro skateboarder.

Deaths

1975 - Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer.

1996 - Charles O. Finley, American businessman best remembered for his tenure as the flamboyant owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team.

1997 - Deng Xiaoping, Chinese revolutionary and government leader.

2001 - Stanley Kramer, an American film director and producer.

2007 - Celia Franca, founder of The National Ballet of Canada (1951) and its artistic director for 24 years.