Chinese leader Deng dies
1997 - China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, whose historic reforms made him a seminal 20th-century figure, died at the age of 92, from respiratory failure caused by the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. US President Bill Clinton led world tributes to Deng’s reforms and opening of China to the outside world. A joint announcement was made by the country’s top party and government organisations, including the Communist Party central committee and the standing committee of the National People’s Congress. The announcement spoke of the “profound grief of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country” at Deng’s death. The announcement also lauded his socialist credentials.
February 19
1618 - Peace of Madrid ends war between Venice and Austria.
1855 - The first weather map is presented at the French Academy of Sciences.
1878 - American inventor Thomas Edison receives a patent for his phonograph.
1913 - General Victoriano Huerta becomes President of Mexico.
1920 - The Netherlands joins the League of Nations.
1945 - US Marines raise the US flag on top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
1951 - A popular revolution in Nepal ends 104-year rule of the Rana dynasty.
1959 - An agreement is signed in London between Greece, Turkey and Britain for independence of Cyprus.
1980 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins fourth term as Prime Minister of Canada.
1985 - An Iberia Airlines plane crashes in Spain, killing 148.
1990 - About 500 protesters break into government headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, calling for resignation of President Ion Iliescu.
1993 - A packed ferry carrying up to 1,500 people sinks off Haiti. More than 1,200 people are killed in the accident.
1998 - US troops land in Kuwait in the first wave of reinforcements to boost American military muscle poised for possible action against Iraq.
2002 - Train inferno in Egypt kills 350.
2003 - A plane carrying 302 people, all military personnel, crashes in southern Iran, killing all on board.
2006 - Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a Dh55-billion initiative, is launched.
2007 - Two bombs explode on a train headed from India to Pakistan, sparking a fire that kills 66 people.
2008 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro hands power to his brother Raul after 50 years in power.
2012 - Gang fight claims 44 people in an overcrowded prison in northern Mexico.
2014 - Facebook acquires popular messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion (Dh69.88 billion).
2016 - Italian writer Umberto Eco dies after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 84.
