Today is Thursday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2023 with 318 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include historian Henry Brooks Adams in 1838; actor Chester Morris in 1901; actor James Baskett in 1904; singer Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters in 1918; actor Vera-Ellen in 1921; singer/U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., in 1935; businessman Carl Icahn in 1936 (age 87); former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 1941; writer Richard Ford in 1944 (age 79); actor William Katt in 1951 (age 72); model/actor Margaux Hemingway in 1954; actor/director LeVar Burton in 1957 (age 66); actor/rapper Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow, in 1958 (age 65); tennis Hall of Fame member John McEnroe in 1959 (age 64); actor Christopher Eccleston in 1964 (age 59); rapper Lupe Fiasco, born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, in 1982 (age 41); actor Elizabeth Olsen in 1989 (age 34); singer/songwriter The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, in 1990 (age 33); singer Ava Max, born Amanda Ava Koci, in 1994 (age 29); actor Chloe East in 2001 (age 22).On this date in history:

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In 1923, archaeologists opened the treasure-laden inner tomb of Tutankhamen, "King Tut," in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

In 1933, a patent for the synthetic fiber nylon was awarded to the DuPont Co.

In 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as Cuba's leader and set up a Communist regime.

In 1983, roaring summer brush fires fanned by 50 mph winds swept southern Australia, killing dozens of people and destroying at least 100 homes.

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In 1984, Bill Johnson became the first American male downhill skier to win an Olympic gold medal. His mother, D.B. Johnson, told UPI, "I'm just so proud of him I could just burst."

In 1986, Mario Soares was elected Portugal's first civilian head of state in 60 years.

In 1992, the Los Angeles Lakers retired Magic Johnson's No. 32 jersey during a tearful ceremony.

In 1999, Germany announced $1.7 billion would be set aside to compensate victims of the Holocaust.


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In 2005, after a five-month lockout, the National Hockey League canceled its entire 2004-05 season.

In 2009, Japan reported its domestic product fell at a 12.7 percent annual rate in the last quarter of 2008, plunging the country into what experts say was its worst financial crisis since World War II.

In 2011, Borders, the 40-year-old retail book superstore chain that began as a used book shop in Ann Arbor, Mich., and rapidly expanded in the 1990s with 650 locations and 19,500 employees, filed for bankruptcy. The retailer fully shuttered in September 2011.

In 2021, Dallas recorded its lowest temperature since 1949 -- minus 2 -- amid a widespread winter storm that left millions without power and killed at least 246 people in Texas.

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In 2022, Norway's Erik Valnes and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold in men's cross-country skiiing team sprint at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

A thought for the day: "Riches and power are but gifts of blind fate, whereas goodness is the result of one's own merits." -- French nun/scholar Heloise