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Today is Tuesday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2002. There are 315 days left in the year. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals living in the United States. 

On this date: 

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

In 1803, Congress voted to accept Ohio’s borders and constitution. (However, Congress did not get around to formally ratifying Ohio statehood until 1953.) 

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested in Alabama. (He was subsequently tried for treason and acquitted.) 

In 1846, the Texas state government was formally installed in Austin. 

In 1878, Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph. 

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

In 1942, about 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin. 

In 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, where they began a month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces. 

In 1959, an agreement was signed by Britain, Turkey and Greece granting Cyprus its independence. 

In 1986, the U.S. Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide, 37 years after the pact had first been submitted for ratification. 

Ten years ago: The Labor Department reported consumer prices rose by just 0.1 percent in January. Former Irish Republican Army member Joseph Doherty was deported from the United States to Northern Ireland following a 10-year battle for political asylum. 

Five years ago: Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died. Detroit’s daily newspapers accepted a back-to-work offer from employees who’d been on strike for 19 months, but the strikers charged the conditions for return amounted to a lockout. 

One year ago: President George W. Bush opened a museum commemorating the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Movie producer-director Stanley Kramer died in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 87. 

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director John Frankenheimer is 72. Singer Smokey Robinson is 62. Singer Bobby Rogers (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles) is 62. Actress Carlin Glynn is 62. Singer Lou Christie is 59. Actor Michael Nader is 57. Rock musician Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) is 54. Actor Jeff Daniels is 47. Talk show host Lorianne Crook is 45. Britain’s Prince Andrew is 42. Tennis Hall-of-Famer Hana Mandlikova is 40. Singer Seal is 39. Actress Justine Bateman is 36. Actor Benicio Del Toro (“Traffic”) is 35.