On This Day in History - February 18th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2017 with 316 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. Evening stars are Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include Austrian physicist Ernst Mach in 1838; stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1848; Italian automaker Enzo Ferrari in 1898; actor Jack Palance in 1919; actor George Kennedy in 1925; game show host Bill Cullen in 1920; author and magazine editor Helen Gurley Brown in 1922; author Len Deighton in 1929 (age 87); author Toni Morrison in 1931 (age 86); cartoonist Johnny Hart in 1931; filmmaker Milos Forman in 1932 (age 85); Yoko Ono, wife of John Lennon, in 1933 (age 84); author Jean M. Auel in 1936 (age 81); actor Cybill Shepherd in 1950 (age 67); actor John Travolta in 1954 (age 63); film director John Hughes in 1950; game show icon Vanna White in 1957 (age 60); actor Greta Scacchi in 1960 (age 57); actor Matt Dillon in 1964 (age 53); rapper and record producer Dr. Dre, born Andre Romelle Young, in 1965 (age 52); actor Molly Ringwald in 1968 (age 49).

On this date in history:

In 1841, the first filibuster in the U.S. Senate began. It ended March 11.

In 1856, the American Party, also known as the "Know-Nothing Party," nominated its first U.S. presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore. He carried only Maryland and the party soon vanished.

In 1865, after a long Civil War siege, Union naval forces captured Charleston, S.C.

In 1884, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was published.

In 1930, dwarf planet Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

In 1954, the Church of Scientology was established in Los Angeles.

In 1967, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," died in Princeton, N.J., at the age of 62.

In 1979, snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first known time.

In 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr., stock-car racing's top driver, was killed in a crash in the final turn of the final lap of the Daytona 500. He was 49.

In 2003, nearly 200 people died and scores were injured in a South Korea subway fire set by a man authorities said apparently was upset at his doctors.

In 2004, 40 chemical and fuel-laden runaway rail cars derailed near Nishapur in northeastern Iran, producing an explosion that killed at least 300 people and injured hundreds of others.

In 2006, 16 people died in rioting in Nigeria over published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that enraged Muslims around the world.

In 2008, two of four masterpieces stolen from the Zurich museum a week earlier, a Monet and a van Gogh, were found in perfect condition in the back seat of an unlocked car in Zurich.

In 2013, Jerry Buss, who owned the Los Angeles Lakers for more than 30 years, during which they won 10 NBA championships, died after a long fight against cancer. He was 80.

In 2014, violence erupted between protesters and security forces in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, eventually resulting in 98 dead with an estimated 15,000 injured and 100 believed missing.

A thought for the day: "A right is not what someone gives you; it's what no one can take from you." -- Ramsey Clark