Today is Monday, Feb. 20, the 51st day of 2023 with 314 to follow.

Today is President's Day in the United States

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include American Revolutionary War hero William Prescott in 1726; American Revolutionary War-era socialite Angelica Schuyler Church in 1756; architect Louis Kahn in 1901; photographer Ansel Adams in 1902; actor Gale Gordon in 1906; fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt in 1924; film director Robert Altman in 1925; author Richard Matheson in 1926; fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy in 1927; actor Sidney Poitier in 1927; auto racer Bobby Unser in 1934; singer Nancy Wilson in 1937; auto racing businessman/team owner Roger Penske in 1937 (age 86); singer Buffy Sainte-Marie in 1941 (age 82); hockey Hall of Fame member Phil Esposito in 1942 (age 81); Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in 1942 (age 81); filmmaker Mike Leigh in 1943 (age 80); actor Sandy Duncan in 1946 (age 77); actor Peter Strauss in 1947 (age 76); actor Jennifer O'Neill in 1948 (age 75); socialite Ivana Trump in 1949; heiress Patty Hearst Shaw in 1954 (age 69); actor Anthony Head in 1954 (age 69); comedian Joel Hodgson in 1960 (age 63); basketball Hall of Fame member Charles Barkley in 1963 (age 60); actor French Stewart in 1964 (age 59); model Cindy Crawford in 1966 (age 57); actor Andrew Shue in 1967 (age 56); musician Kurt Cobain in 1967; pop singer Brian Littrell in 1975 (age 48); actor Jay Hernandez in 1978 (age 45); actor Chelsea Peretti in 1978 (age 45); comedian Trevor Noah in 1984 (age 39); actor Miles Teller in 1987 (age 36); singer/actor Rihanna, born Robin Rihanna Fenty, in 1988 (age 35); singer Olivia Rodrigo in 2003 (age 20).On this date in history:

In 1816, The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini opened in Rome.

In 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York City.

In 1938, Anthony Eden resigned as Britain's foreign secretary to protest the "appeasement" policy of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain toward Nazi Germany.

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In 1939, tens of thousands of Nazi supporters gathered for a rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden to celebrate the rise of Adolf Hitler. The attendees raised Nazi salutes to a 30-foot-tall image of former President George Washington.

In 1947, British Prime Minister Clement R. Attlee told the House of Commons that it was the government's "definite intention to take necessary steps to effect the transfer of power to responsible Indian hands by a date not later than June 1948."

In 1947, a portion of the Iraq Petroleum Co.'s pipeline, which carries oil from the rich fields in the Euphrates Valley to the Mediterranean at Jaffa, was blown up at two places in North Palestine in a new outburst of underground violence.

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. He landed safely after three orbits in a Mercury spacecraft. The previous year, Russian Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit Earth.


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In 1991, U.S. troops penetrated Iraq, capturing up to 500 Iraqi soldiers.

In 1998, Tara Lipinski, 15, of the United States became the youngest winner of a ladies Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

In 2003, fire broke out during a rock concert at a West Warwick, R.I., nightclub, killing 100 people.

In 2008, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship knocked down a dying satellite 130 miles over the Pacific Ocean. Officials said the satellite contained 1,000 pounds of frozen toxic fuel.

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In 2010, a minaret and part of the roof fell into a historic 18th-century mosque during services, killing at least 38 people and injuring 71 more in the ancient city of Meknes, Morocco.

In 2020, a federal judge sentenced Republican strategist and former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone to 40 months in prison for his conviction on seven criminal counts stemming from the Justice Department's Russia investigation. Then-President Donald Trump granted Stone a full pardon in December 2020.

In 2022, after 19 days of competition, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games came to a close.

A thought for the day: "I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." -- American rock legend Kurt Cobain