This Day in History
1942: Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt issues an executive order that Japanese-Americans living in the western United States be placed in internment camps.
1945: During World War II , the Marines land on the island of Iwo Jima.
1987: The United States lifts economic sanctions against Poland in place since 1981 and 1982.
1997: Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping dies in Beijing at the age of 92.
2002: U.S. bobsledder Vonetta Flowers becomes the first African-American athlete ever to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics after her team upsets the favored Germans.
Today's Birthdays
1473: Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer (Torun, Poland; died 1543)
1911: Merle Oberon, actress (Bombay, India; died 1979)
1912: Stan Kenton, jazz musician/bandleader (Wichita, KS; died 1979)
1916: Eddie Arcaro, jockey (Cincinnati, OH; died 1997)
1940: Smokey Robinson, singer/songwriter (Detroit, MI)
1952: Amy Tan, author (Oakland, CA)
1955: Jeff Daniels, actor (Georgia)
1960: Prince Andrew, Duke of York (London, England)
1963: Hana Mandlikova, tennis champion (Prague, Czechoslovakia). Seal, singer/songwriter (London, England).
1966: Justine Bateman, actress (Rye, NY)
1967: Benicio Del Toro, actor (Santurce, Puerto Rico)
