Today in History: Feb. 20

377869 44: A portrait of George Washington, first President of the United States serving from 1789 to 1797. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office. George Washington was the first President of the United States serving from 1789 to 1797. (National Archive/Newsmakers)
Rubenstein, a billionaire who founded The Carlyle Group investment firm in Washington, has already given $7.5 million to repair the Washington Monument after a 2011 earthquake, $5.4 million for the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and $12.35 million for Arlington House, the home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

(WTOP/Kate Ryan)
In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever. (WTOP/Kate Ryan)
In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.  (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft. FILE – In this Feb. 20, 2012, file photo, U.S. Sen. John Glenn talks with astronauts on the International Space Station via satellite before a discussion titled “Learning from the Past to Innovate for the Future” in Columbus, Ohio. Adam Sackowitz, a graduate student at St. John’s University, is fighting for a series of tangible honors for Glenn, including a statue, a portrait and a place for the late astronaut’s birthplace in Cambridge, Ohio, on the National Historic Register. Glenn, who became the first American to orbit Earth in 1962, died Dec. 8, 2016, at age 95. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)
In 2003, a fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others. In this Feb. 21, 2003 file photo, a firefighter inspects the charred interior of the Station nightclub. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
FILE - In this April 4, 1996 file photo, Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, is flanked by federal agents as he is led to a car from the federal courthouse in Helena, Mont. Twenty years after the arrest of Kaczynski, some Lincoln residents remember him as an odd recluse who ate rabbits and lived without electricity, while others say he had a funny, personable side. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, for a series of bombings, most through the mail, that killed three people and injured 23 others over 17 years. (AP Photo/John Youngbear, File)
In 1987, a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright. FILE – In this April 4, 1996 file photo, Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, is flanked by federal agents as he is led to a car from the federal courthouse in Helena, Mont. Twenty years after the arrest of Kaczynski, some Lincoln residents remember him as an odd recluse who ate rabbits and lived without electricity, while others say he had a funny, personable side. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, for a series of bombings, most through the mail, that killed three people and injured 23 others over 17 years. (AP Photo/John Youngbear, File)
In 2018, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated figure skaters in history, capturing the gold medal in ice dancing on Day 11 of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform during the ice dance, free dance figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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377869 44: A portrait of George Washington, first President of the United States serving from 1789 to 1797. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
Rubenstein, a billionaire who founded The Carlyle Group investment firm in Washington, has already given $7.5 million to repair the Washington Monument after a 2011 earthquake, $5.4 million for the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and $12.35 million for Arlington House, the home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

(WTOP/Kate Ryan)
FILE - In this April 4, 1996 file photo, Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, is flanked by federal agents as he is led to a car from the federal courthouse in Helena, Mont. Twenty years after the arrest of Kaczynski, some Lincoln residents remember him as an odd recluse who ate rabbits and lived without electricity, while others say he had a funny, personable side. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, for a series of bombings, most through the mail, that killed three people and injured 23 others over 17 years. (AP Photo/John Youngbear, File)

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 20, the 51st day of 2019.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 20, 2003, a fire sparked by pyrotechnics broke out during a concert by the group Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people and injuring about 200 others.

On this date:

In 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department.

In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House, apparently of typhoid fever.

In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an immigration act which excluded “idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics, insane persons” from being admitted to the United States.

In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary following Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to negotiate with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

In 1942, Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare became the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace of World War II by shooting down five Japanese bombers while defending the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific.

In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Rabinowitz, ruled 5-3 that authorities making a lawful arrest did not need a warrant to search and seize evidence in an area that was in the “immediate and complete control” of the suspect.

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.

In 1965, America’s Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon, as planned, after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface.

In 1971, the National Emergency Warning Center in Colorado erroneously ordered U.S. radio and TV stations off the air; some stations heeded the alert, which was not lifted for about 40 minutes.

In 1987, a bomb left by Unabomber Ted Kaczynski exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring store owner Gary Wright. Soviet authorities released Jewish activist Josef Begun.

In 1999, movie reviewer Gene Siskel died at a hospital outside Chicago at age 53.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama warned a gathering of mayors at the White House that he would “call them out” if they wasted the money from his massive economic stimulus plan. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week at 7,365.67, the lowest level in more than six years. Israeli President Shimon Peres chose Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government. The WTA fined Dubai Tennis Championships organizers a record $300,000 after Israeli player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates.

Five years ago: Protesters advanced on police lines in the heart of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, prompting government snipers to shoot and kill scores of people. In Sochi, Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime to win its 4th straight Olympic women’s hockey gold. Adelina Sotnikova became Russia’s first gold medalist in women’s Olympic figure skating, defeating defending champion Yuna Kim of South Korea.

One year ago: Students who survived the Florida school shooting traveled to Tallahassee to urge state lawmakers to prevent another massacre, but procedural moves in the legislature effectively halted any effort to ban assault-style rifles like the one used in the attack. President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to move to ban devices like the rapid-fire bump stocks used in the Las Vegas massacre. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated figure skaters in history, capturing the gold medal in ice dancing on Day 11 of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

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