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Today is Saturday, February 18, the 49th day of 2023. There are 316 days left in the year. Spring arrives in 32 days (March 20, 2023). There are 124 days until summer (June 21, 2023).
Here are some notable events in history on this day — some that still have an impact on us:
In 1564, Michelangelo died in Rome at age 88.
In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time.
In 1913, the North Dakota Legislature ratified the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators.
In 1970, the “Chicago Seven” defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention; five were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968.
In 1983, 13 people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre.
In 1984, Italy and the Vatican signed an accord under which Roman Catholicism ceased to be the state religion of Italy.
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In 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia. Hanssen later pleaded guilty to espionage and attempted espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2001, auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash at the Daytona 500; he was 49.
In 2013, the European Union imposed trade and economic sanctions on North Korea while condemning “in the strongest terms” the nation’s latest nuclear test. Robbers stole a reported $50 million worth of diamonds from the hold of a Swiss-bound plane at Brussels’ international airport; more than 30 people were later detained and some of the loot recovered.
In 2020, President Donald Trump commuted the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for political corruption; Blagojevich left prison hours later and returned home to Chicago.
In 2022, police arrested scores of demonstrators and towed away vehicles in Canada’s besieged capital, and a stream of trucks started leaving under the pressure, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions.
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Today’s birthdays: Today’s Birthdays: Singer Yoko Ono is 90. Singer-songwriter Bobby Hart is 84. Singer Irma Thomas is 82. Singer Herman Santiago (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) is 82. Actor Jess Walton is 77. Singer Dennis DeYoung is 76. Actor Sinead Cusack is 75. Actor Cybill Shepherd is 73. Singer Randy Crawford is 71. Actor John Travolta is 69. Actor John Pankow is 68. Game show host Vanna White is 66. Actor Jayne Atkinson is 64. Actor Greta Scacchi (SKAH’-kee) is 63. Actor Matt Dillon is 59. Rock musician Tommy Scott (Space) is 59.
