Today is Wednesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2016. There are 318 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1815, the United States and Britain exchanged the instruments of ratification for the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.

In 1904, the original two-act version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly” received a poor reception at its premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces invaded Eniwetok Atoll, encountering little initial resistance from Imperial Japanese troops. (The Americans secured the atoll less than a week later.)

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon departed the White House with his wife, Pat, on a historic trip to China.

In 1986, Johnson & Johnson announced it would no longer sell over-the-counter medications in capsule form, following the death of a woman who had taken a cyanidelaced Tylenol capsule.