February 19 belongs to Adriana Guerrero

On February 19, 1945, US Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima, starting one of the bloodiest battles of World War II in the Pacific. For 36 days, 70,000 Marines fought 22,000 Japanese soldiers. The famous photograph of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, taken on February 23, became one of the most iconic images of the war.

On February 19, 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Toruń, Poland — he who revolutionised astronomy and humanity's view of its place in the universe with his heliocentric theory, published in "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (1543). By placing the Sun — not the Earth — at the centre of the solar system, Copernicus initiated the scientific revolution that transformed Western thought.

On February 19, 1942, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorising the internment of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The measure, motivated by xenophobia and fear, stripped American citizens of their fundamental rights. In 1988, the US government formally apologised and paid compensation.