Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2016. There are 318 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Hal Holbrook is 91. Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown is 80. Massachusetts taxpayers advocate Barbara Anderson is 73. Actress Brenda Fricker is 71. Actress Rene Russo is 62. Actor Richard Karn is 60. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is 53. Actor-comedian Larry, the Cable Guy is 53. Olympic gold medal skier Tommy Moe is 46. Rock singer-musician Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) is 44. TV personality Paris Hilton is 35. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 35.

In 1863, the International Red Cross was founded in Geneva.

In 1904, the original two-act version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘‘Madama Butterfly’’ received a poor reception at its premiere at La Scala in Milan.

In 1925, the first issue of The New Yorker magazine (bearing the cover date of Feb. 21) was published.

In 1964, the Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.

In 1972, President Nixon departed the White House on a historic trip to China.

In 2006, mudslide killed about 1,000 Filipinos.

In 2011, Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping antiunion bill, refusing to show up for a vote and leaving the state in a bid to force Republicans to negotiate.

Last year, judge in Texas issued a temporary restraining order against two of President Obama’s immigration initiatives, thrusting thousands of immigrants in into uncertainty.