What happened on February 19 ?

197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.

607 - Boniface III becomes Pope.

1594 - Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.

1600 - The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America.

1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York.

1807 - In Alabama, Former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason.

1819 - British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III.

1846 - In Austin, Texas the newly-formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following Texas' annexation by the United States.

1847 - The Donner Party is rescued. It is noted that some of the survivors seem to be remarkably well-fed considering their ordeal.

1852 - The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

1861 - Serfdom is abolished in Russia.

1878 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

1881 - Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.

1913 - Prizes are included in Cracker Jack candy boxes for the first time.

1915 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli began.

1937 - During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two Eritrean nationalists attempt to kill viceroy Rodolfo Graziani with a number of grenades. The Italian security guard fire into the crowd of Ethiopian onlookers, and over the passing weeks indiscriminately slaughter native Ethiopians in reprisal.

1941 - World War II: The Afrika Korps, the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in North Africa, was formed.

1942 - World War II: nearly 250 Japanese warplanes attack the northern Australian city of Darwin killing anywhere from 243 to 1100 people.

1942 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the executive order 9066, allowing the United States military to relocate Japanese-Americans to Japanese internment camps.

1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia begins.

1945 - World War II: Battle of Iwo Jima - about 30,000 United States Marines land on Iwo Jima.

1949 - Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.

1953 - Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States.

1959 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence, which is then on formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.

1964 - Paul Simon writes "The Sounds of Silence," the song which, in a year and a half, will catapult him and Art Garfunkel to stardom as Simon & Garfunkel.

1980 - Bon Scott (Ronald Belford Scott), lead singer of AC/DC, dies after a night of heavy drinking.

1985 - Artificial heart patient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital.

1985 - A Spanish Boeing 747 crashes into Mount Oiz in Spain, killing 148.

1985 - EastEnders first airs on televisions across the United Kingdom, on the first night of a major ident change for BBC1.

1986 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.

1986 - After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.

1999 - Dennis Franz receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2001 - A Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.

2004 - Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity."

2006 - The Rolling Stones made the largest show open to the public of the world in Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1.3 million people went to the show.