Hearts and Minds: Quote of the Day Inspires Change as History Reveals Volcanoes, Crocodiles, Myths Debunked, and a Legendary Ship's Final Voyage

Quote of the day

Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community. | Barbara Gittings

Did you know?

The Bermuda Triangle is no more hazardous than any other busy ocean route. The mystery of this patch of sea gained legendary status in the 20th century, but the number of incidents in the Bermuda Triangle isn’t significantly higher than in any other part of the ocean.

On this day in history, February 19

1600 Huaynaputina, in Peru is the most violent and catastrophic volcanic eruption recorded, affecting the world’s climate, making 1601 the coldest year in six centuries.

1884 More than 60 tornadoes strike the southern US and kill 800 people.

1896 Eighty people die and 500 are injured when a goods train and a train carrying dynamite collide in Braamfontein.

1910 ‘Typhoid Mary’, an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, is freed from her first period of forced isolation, and goes on to cause further outbreaks of typhoid in New York. She is locked up for the rest of her life.

1913 Pedro Lascuráin becomes president of Mexico for 45 minutes – the shortest term.

1914 Four-year-old Charlotte May Pierstorff is sent by post from Grangeville, Idaho, to her grandparents’ house 115km away in the most famous ‘child-in-the-post’ instance.

1942 Japanese warplanes attack Darwin, Australia, killing 243 people.

1945 About 980 Japanese soldiers, hiding in mangrove swamps to escape advancing British troops, are killed by salt-water crocodiles on Ramree Island, Burma.

1954 The Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine.

1978 Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport without permission over a hijacking. The Cypriot National Guard and police kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy an Egyptian transport plane.

1994 Gunmen kill 18 ANC supporters in KZN.

2018 At least 17 people die when a pile of rubbish collapses in Maputo, Mozambique.

2024 The brightest known object in the universe is identified as a quasar, 500 trillion times brighter than the sun, powered by a super massive black hole that devours a sun-sized mass every day.

2024 An investigation into 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise charges his wife, the former PM and ex-chief of police.

2025 The holder of the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a ship, the SS United States leaves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under tow on her final voyage before being scuttled to become the world’s largest artificial reef off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

DAILY NEWS