Today in History.....February 20

On this day in …

* 1792, President Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office

* 1809, the Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state

* 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia

* 1933, the House of Representatives completed congressional action on an amendment to repeal Prohibition

* 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week"

* 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, flying aboard Friendship 7

* 1965, the Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface

* 1981, the space shuttle Columbia cleared the final major hurdle to its maiden launch as the spacecraft fired its three engines in a 20-second test

* 2001, the government announced the arrest two days earlier of veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen, accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years

* 2005, Israel's Cabinet gave final approval to the government's planned surrender from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank suburbs.
ALSO: Former presidents Bush and Clinton traveled to Lampuuk, Indonesia, ground zero of tsunami devastation where they promised survivors that more help would come