On February 19, 2008, Fidel Castro finally stepped down as Cuba’s president. He was then 81 years old and had been in power for 49 years. His successor was his younger brother Raul, who was also a stiff-necked communist.  He held power until 2021. The nation is still mired in communist bureaucracy and central planning. — And on February 19, 1910, Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) was  freed from her first periods of forced isolation and went on to cause several further outbreaks of typhoid in the New York area. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round … The post Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 19, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.