Today is Wednesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2025. There are 315 days left in the year.

On Feb. 19, 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the internment of 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens.

In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.

In 1878, inventor Thomas Edison was issued a patent for the phonograph.

In 1945, Operation Detachment began during World War II as the first wave of U.S. Marines landed at Iwo Jima, where they commenced a successful monthlong battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, calling the issuing of the 1942 internment order for people of Japanese ancestry “a sad day in American history,” signed a proclamation formally confirming its termination.

In 2003, an Iranian military plane carrying members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in southeastern Iran, killing all 275 people on board.

In 2008, an ailing Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency after nearly a half-century in power; his brother Raúl was later named to succeed him.