By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2021. There are 315 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On Feb. 19, 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the relocation and internment of people of Japanese ancestry, including U.S.-born citizens. Imperial Japanese warplanes raided the Australian city of Darwin; at least 243 people were killed.

On this date:

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr, accused of treason, was arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in present-day Alabama. (Burr was acquitted at trial.)

In 1846, the Texas state government was formally installed in Austin, with J. Pinckney Henderson taking the oath of office as governor.

In 1878, Thomas Edison received a U.S. patent for “an improvement in phonograph or speaking machines.”

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

In 1968, the children’s program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” created by and starring Fred Rogers, made its network debut on National Educational Television, a forerunner of PBS, beginning a 31-season run.

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

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

In 2019, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to develop plans for a new Space Force within the Air Force, accepting less than the full-fledged department he had wanted.

Five years ago: Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died in Monroeville, Alabama, at age 89.

One year ago: About 500 passengers left the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan at the end of a two-week quarantine that failed to stop the spread of the coronavirus among passengers and crew; the number of confirmed cases aboard the ship topped 600. The number of deaths in China from the virus rose past 2,000. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said the virus had killed two Iranian citizens.