February 23

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February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 311 days remain until the end of the year (312 in leap years).

Events

• 1455 - Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type.
• 1660 - Charles XI becomes King of Sweden.
• 1778 - American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
• 1797 - French Forces launch a failed invasion of Britain. See Last Invasion of Britain
• 1820 - Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
• 1830 - Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University, is incorporated.
• 1836 - The Siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
• 1847 - Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista - In Mexico, American troops defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
• 1854 - The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
• 1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland.
• 1866 - Lebanon Valley College is founded in Annville, Pennsylvania.
• 1870 - Military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
• 1874 - Major Walter Clopton Wingfield patents a game called "sphairistike," now more commonly called lawn tennis.
• 1883 - Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.
• 1887 - The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
• 1893 - Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine.
• 1898 - Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully placing Captain Alfred Dreyfus in jail.
• 1900 - In South Africa the Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.
• 1903 - Cuba leases Guantanamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
• 1904 - For $10 million the United States gains control of the Panama Canal Zone.
• 1905 - Chicago, Illinois attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
• 1909 - The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
• 1917 - First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
• 1918 - First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser's German troops near Narva and Pskov. Since 1923 this date become the Day of Red Army in honour of this victory.
• 1919 - Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.
• 1927 - The Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies.
• 1934 - Léopold III becomes King of Belgium.
• 1940 - World War II: Soviet Union troops conquer Lasi Island.
• 1941 - Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
• 1944 - forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people to Central Asia
• 1945 - World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten US Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize.
• 1945 - World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.
• 1945 - World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań, city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
• 1945 - World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.
• 1947 - International Organization for Standardization(ISO) is founded.
• 1954 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 1955 - First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
• 1957 - The founding congress of the Senegalese Popular Bloc is opened in Dakar.
• 1958 - Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
• 1966 - A military coup in Syria replaces the previous government.
• 1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
• 1975 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States.
• 1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
• 1981 - 23-F, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
• 1983 - The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos.
• 1983 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
• 1987 - A supernova is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud (see Supernova 1987a).
• 1991 - Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabia border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground-phase of the war.
• 1991 - In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
• 1992 - The Socialist Labour Party is founded in Georgia.
• 1995 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33, closing above 4,000 for the first time.
• 1997 - A large fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.
• 1998 - Kissimmee Tornado Outbreak: Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
• 1998 - Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.
• 1999 - Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
• 1999 - An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
• 2005 - Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; Bush and Putin are in attendance.
• 2005 - Vote of the controversial French law on colonialism, repealed start of 2006.
• 2006 - Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
• 2007 - Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
• 2007 - A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, United Kingdom, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.

Births

• 1417 - Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
• 1583 - Jean-Baptiste Morin, French scientist (d. 1656)
• 1633 - Samuel Pepys, English naval administrator and man of letters, posthumously famous as a diarist (d. 1703)
• 1646 - Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (d. 1709)
• 1648 - Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (d. 1730)
• 1680 - Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, French colonizer and Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)
• 1685 - Georg Friedrich Handel, German/British Baroque composer (d. 1759)
• 1688 - Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
• 1723 - Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
• 1729 - Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (d. 1809)
• 1743 - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German-born banker (d. 1812)
• 1809 - William Sprague, American minister and politician from Michigan (d. 1868)
• 1840 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist (d. 1921)
• 1842 - Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)
• 1850 - César Ritz, Swiss hotelier (d. 1918)
• 1868 - W.E.B. DuBois, American civil rights leader (d. 1963)
• 1873 - Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (d. 1929)
• 1874 - Konstantin Päts, Estonian president (d. 1956)
• 1878 - Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and art theorist (d. 1935)
• 1883 - Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969)
• 1889 - Victor Fleming, American director (d. 1949)
• 1889 - Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
• 1891 - Harold Horder, Australian Rugby League player (d. 1978)
• 1899 - Erich Kästner, German writer (d. 1974)
• 1899 - Norman Taurog, American film director (d. 1981)
• 1901 - Edgar Ende, German painter (d. 1965)
• 1904 - Terence Fisher, English film director (d. 1980)
• 1904 - William L. Shirer, American historian (d. 1993)
• 1904 - Leopold Trepper, Soviet spy (d. 1982)
• 1908 - William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
• 1914 - Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
• 1915 - Jon Hall, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1915 - Paul Tibbets, US Air Force retired Brigadier General and Pilot of B-29 "Enola Gay" over Hiroshima (d. 2007)
• 1918 - Richard G. Butler, American fascist (d. 2004)
• 1920 - Paul Gérin-Lajoie, French Canadian politician
• 1923 - Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan politician
• 1924 - Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African born physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
• 1924 - Claude Sautet, French film director (d. 2000)
• 1928 - Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (d. 1990)
• 1931 - Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (d. 2004)
• 1932 - Majel Barrett, American actress
• 1937 - Tom Osborne, American football coach and politician
• 1938 - Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1940 - Peter Fonda, American actor
• 1941 - Ron Hunt, baseball player
• 1943 - Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
• 1944 - Bernard Cornwell, English historical novelist
• 1944 - Johnny Winter, American musician
• 1945 - Allan Boesak, South African activist
• 1946 - Rusty Young, American country-rock guitarist (Poco)
• 1948 - Doug Moench, American comic book writer
• 1949 - Marc Garneau, French Canadian astronaut
• 1950 - Maxi, Irish singer and radio personality
• 1951 - Ed Jones, American football player
• 1951 - Patricia Richardson, American actress
• 1952 - Brad Whitford, American musician (Aerosmith)
• 1953 - Satoru Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
• 1954 - Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
• 1955 - Tom Bodett, American voice actor, radio personality, and writer
• 1955 - Howard Jones, British pop singer
• 1958 - Tony Barrell, English writer and journalist
• 1958 - David Sylvian, English singer, musician and composer (Japan, Nine Horses)
• 1959 - Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
• 1960 - Alan Griffin, Australian politician
• 1960 - Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
• 1961 - Kelly Hansen, American drummer (Summer Lights)
• 1962 - Michael Wilton, American musician (Queensrÿche)
• 1963 - Bobby Bonilla, former baseball player
• 1963 - Radosław Sikorski, Polish politician
• 1964 - John Norum, Norwegian guitarist (Europe)
• 1965 - Kristin Davis, American actress
• 1965 - Michael Dell, American computer manufacturer
• 1965 - Helena Suková, former Czech tennis player
• 1965 - Veronica Webb, American supermodel and actress
• 1968 - Justin Bell, British racing driver
• 1969 - Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
• 1970 - Marie-Josée Croze, French Canadian actress
• 1970 - Niecy Nash, American actress
• 1971 - Jeong Chan, South Korean actor
• 1971 - Don Maxwell, Canadian cricketer
• 1971 - Melinda Messenger, English television presenter
• 1972 - Steve Holy, American country singer
• 1972 - Rondell White, American baseball player
• 1973 - Jack Case, American artist
• 1973 - Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
• 1974 - Leko, American DJ
• 1974 - Jaime Villarreal, Mexican musician
• 1974 - Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
• 1975 - Michael Cornacchia, American actor
• 1975 - Robert Lopez, American composer
• 1976 - Kelly Macdonald, British actress
• 1977 - Kristina Šmigun, Estonian cross-country skier
• 1978 - René Pérez, Puerto Rican musician (Calle 13)
• 1978 - Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
• 1979 - D-Roc, American rapper (Ying Yang Twins)
• 1981 - Gareth Barry, English footballer
• 1981 - Charles Tillman, American football player
• 1983 - Mirco Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1983 - Mido, Egyptian footballer
• 1983 - Emily Blunt, British actress
• 1986 - Holly Brook, American musician
• 1986 - Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese idol, (member of KAT-TUN)
• 1989 - Evan Bates, American ice dancer
• 1994 - Dakota Fanning, American child actress

Deaths

• 943 - Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
• 1011 - Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz
• 1100 - Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1076)
• 1270 - Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
• 1447 - Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
• 1447 - Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
• 1464 - Zhengtong, Emperor of China (b. 1427)
• 1526 - Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies
• 1554 - Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician (executed) (bc. 1515)
• 1572 - Pierre Certon, French composer
• 1603 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
• 1669 - Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (b. 1600)
• 1704 - Georg Muffat, French composer (b. 1653)
• 1730 - Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)
• 1766 - Stanislaw Leszczynski, King of Poland (b. 1677)
• 1781 - George Taylor, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (bc. 1716)
• 1792 - Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
• 1800 - Joseph Warton, English literary critic (b. 1722)
• 1821 - John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
• 1848 - John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
• 1855 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
• 1859 - Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish Romantic poet (b. 1812)
• 1879 - Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
• 1897 - Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
• 1908 - Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (b. 1823)
• 1922 - Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1930 - Horst Wessel, Nazi ideologue and composer (b. 1907)
• 1931 - Nellie Melba, Australian opera soprano (b. 1861)
• 1934 - Edward Elgar, English composer (b. 1857)
• 1937 - Victim 7 of the Cleveland Torso Murderer
• 1944 - Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist and inventor of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite (b. 1863)
• 1946 - Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (hanged) (b. 1885)
• 1948 - John Robert Gregg, Irish-born publisher and inventor (b. 1866)
• 1955 - Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
• 1957 - Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
• 1960 - Arthur Legat, Belgian racing driver (b. 1898)
• 1965 - Stan Laurel, British born actor and comedian (b. 1890)
• 1969 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
• 1973 - Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
• 1974 - Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)
• 1976 - LS Lowry, English artist (b. 1887)
• 1979 - W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900)
• 1983 - Herbert Howells, English composer (b. 1892)
• 1990 - José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
• 1992 - Markos Vafiadis, Greek politician (b. 1906)
• 1995 - Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942)
• 1995 - James Herriot, English writer (b. 1916)
• 1997 - Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (b. 1945)
• 1999 - Carlos Hathcock, USMC Sniper, 93 Confirmed Kills (b. 1942)
• 2000 - Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
• 2000 - Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
• 2001 - Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
• 2003 - Howie Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)
• 2004 - Vijay Anand, Indian film director (b. 1934)
• 2004 - Carl Anderson, American singer (b. 1945)
• 2004 - Sikander Bakht, Governor of Kerala (b. 1918)
• 2004 - Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 2004 - Carl Liscombe, Canadian hockey player (b. 1915)
• 2006 - Benno Besson, Swiss actor and film director (b. 1922)
• 2006 - Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
• 2007 - John Ritchie, British footballer (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Terminalia held in honor of Terminus.
• Guyana - Mashramani-Republic Day.
• Italy - Feast of the Incappucciati.
• Russia - Defender of the Fatherland Day (formerly Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy).
• Brunei - National Day.

Liturgical feasts

• February 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (died 155)
• Saint Lazarus (d. 867)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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