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UPI Almanac for Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019

On Feb. 16, 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Cuba's leader and set up a Communist regime.

By United Press International
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Cuba's leader and set up a Communist regime. UPI File Photo
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Cuba's leader and set up a Communist regime. UPI File Photo | License Photo

Today is Saturday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2019 with 318 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include historian Henry Brooks Adams in 1838; actor Chester Morris in 1901; actor James Baskett in 1904; singer Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters in 1918; actor Vera-Ellen in 1921; singer/U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., in 1935; businessman Carl Icahn in 1936 (age 83); former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 1941; writer Richard Ford in 1944 (age 75); actor William Katt in 1951 (age 68); model/actor Margaux Hemingway in 1954; actor/director LeVar Burton in 1957 (age 62); actor/rapper Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow, in 1958 (age 61); tennis Hall of Fame member John McEnroe in 1959 (age 60); actor Christopher Eccleston in 1964 (age 55); rapper Lupe Fiasco, born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, in 1982 (age 37); actor Elizabeth Olsen in 1989 (age 30); singer/songwriter The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, in 1990 (age 29).

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On this date in history:

In 1923, archaeologists opened the treasure-laden inner tomb of Tutankhamen, "King Tut," in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

In 1933, a patent for the synthetic fiber nylon was awarded to the DuPont Co.

In 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Cuba's leader and set up a Communist regime.

In 1983, roaring summer brush fires fanned by 50 mph winds swept southern Australia, killing dozens of people and destroying at least 100 homes.

In 1984, Bill Johnson became the first American male downhill skier to win an Olympic gold medal. His mother, D.B. Johnson, told UPI, "I'm just so proud of him I could just burst."

In 1986, Mario Soares was elected Portugal's first civilian head of state in 60 years.

In 1992, the Los Angeles Lakers retired Magic Johnson's No. 32 jersey during a tearful ceremony.

In 1999, Germany announced $1.7 billion would be set aside to compensate victims of the Holocaust.

In 2005, after a five-month lockout, the National Hockey League canceled its entire 2004-05 season.

In 2009, Japan reported its domestic product fell at a 12.7 percent annual rate in the last quarter of 2008, plunging the country into what experts say was its worst financial crisis since World War II.

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In 2011, Borders, the 40-year-old retail book superstore chain that began as a used book shop in Ann Arbor, Mich., and rapidly expanded in the 1990s with 650 locations and 19,500 employees, filed for bankruptcy.

In 2013, protesters in Quetta, Pakistan, threw rocks at police cars and set fires in the streets after a bomb attack in a Shiite neighborhood killed more than 80 people and injured about 175.

In 2018, Swiss cross country skier Dario Cologna won his fourth career Olympic gold medal in the 15k freestyle and Austrian Matthias Mayer won a second Olympic gold medal in the super-G at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.


A thought for the day: "Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." -- Steve Jobs

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