This day in history

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In 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the creation of US military areas ‘‘from which any or all persons may be excluded’’; the order was used mostly to relocate and intern people of Japanese ancestry, including US-born citizens. (ap file photo)

Today is Sunday, Feb. 19, the 50th day of 2017. There are 315 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Smokey Robinson is 77. Rock musician Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) is 69. Actor Stephen Nichols is 66. Author Amy Tan is 65. Actor Jeff Daniels is 62. Rock singer-musician Dave Wakeling is 61. Talk show host Lorianne Crook is 60. Actor Ray Winstone is 60. Actor Leslie David Baker is 59. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is 58. Britain’s Prince Andrew is 57. Tennis Hall-of-Famer Hana Mandlikova is 55. Singer Seal is 54. Actress Jessica Tuck is 54. Country musician Ralph McCauley (Wild Horses) is 53. Rock musician Jon Fishman (Phish) is 52. Actress Justine Bateman is 51. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 50. Actress Bellamy Young is 47. Rock musician Daniel Adair is 42. Pop singer-actress Haylie Duff is 32. Christian rock musician Seth Morrison (Skillet) is 29. Actor Luke Pasqualino (TV: ‘‘The Musketeers’’) is 27. Actress Victoria Justice is 24. Actress Millie Bobby Brown is 13.

In 1881, Kansas prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.

In 1915, during World War I, British and French warships launched their initial attack on Ottoman forces in the Dardanelles, a strait in northwestern Turkey. (The Gallipoli Campaign that followed proved disastrous for the Allies.)

In 1917, Carson McCullers, author of ‘‘The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter’’ and ‘‘The Member of the Wedding,’’ was born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia.

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

In 1963, ‘‘The Feminine Mystique’’ by Betty Friedan was first published by W.W. Norton Co.

In 1986, the Senate approved, 83-11, the Genocide Convention, an international treaty outlawing ‘‘acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,’’ nearly 37 years after the pact was first submitted for ratification.

In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the last of China’s major Communist revolutionaries, died at age 92.

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 2016, Harper Lee, author of ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’’ died in Monroeville, Ala., at age 89.