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Today in History ~ February 23
Events0303 - Emperor Diocletian decrees persecution of Christians
1455 - Johannes Gutenberg prints 1st book, Bible
1574 - France begins 5th holy war against Huguenots
1689 - Dutch prince William III proclaimed King of England
1778 - Baron von Steuben joins Continental Army at Valley Forge
1792 - Joseph Haydn's 94th Symphony in G, premieres
1792 - Humane Society of Massachusetts incorporated (erected life-saving stations for distressed mariners)
1813 - 1st US raw cotton-to-cloth mill founded in Waltham, Mass
1821 - College of Apothecaries organized in Phil; 1st US pharmacy college
1822 - Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836 - Alamo besieged by Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed
1846 - Polish revolutionaries march on Cracow, but are defeated
1861 - By popular referendum, Texas becomes 7th state to secede from US
1861 - President-elect Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, an assassination plot having been foiled in Baltimore. [H]
1870 - Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1883 - American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Phila)
1886 - Aluminum manufacturing process developed
1886 - London Times publishes world's 1st classified ad
1886 - Tschaikowsky's symphonic poem "Manfred," premieres
1896 - Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield
1898 - In France, Emile Zola is imprisoned for writing his "J'accuse" letter accusing government of anti-Semitism & wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus
1903 - Cuban state of Guantanamo leased to USA
1904 - US acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million
1910 - George Bernard Shaw's "Misalliance," premieres in London
1915 - Germany sinks US ships Carib & Evelyn & torpedoes Norwegian ship Regin
1916 - French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at Samogneux Verdun
1917 - February revolution begins in Russia
1919 - Fascist Party forms in Italy by Benito Mussolini
1921 - 1st US transcontinental air mail flight arrives in NYC from SF
1927 - President Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission. (FCC)
1940 - Guthrie writes "This Land is Your Land" [H]
1940 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio," released
1942 - Japanese sub fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, Calif
1943 - German troops pull back through Kasserine Pass, Tunisia
1945 - During World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag. (famous photo & statue)
1947 - Gen Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170M in aid for European Jews
1954 - 1st mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
1956 - Russian party leader Khrushchev attacks memory of Stalin
1967 - 25th amendment (presidential succession) declared ratified
1967 - US troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War
1970 - Guyana becomes a republic (National Day)
1971 - Lt William Calley confesses & implicates Captain Ernest Medina in My Lai massacre. In the hallowed military tradition, Lt. Calley, as the lowest ranking officer involved, was the only one to be court marshaled.
1974 - Patty Hearst, daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by SLA
1980 - Eric Heiden wins all 5 speed skating golds at Lake Placid Olympics
1980 - Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-mil-gallon spill
1981 - An attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded the Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. The attempt collapsed 18 hours later.
1982 - Michael Frayn's "Noises Off," premieres in London
1985 - Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight throws a chair during a game
1985 - US Senate confirms Edwin Meese III as attorney general
1987 - Russian Writers Union accepts Boris Pasternak posthumously as member
1987 - Supernova 1987A in LMC 1st seen; 1st naked-eye supernova since 1604
1988 - Chicago gives Cubs right to install lights & play up to 18 night games
1991 - US insists Iraq publicly announce it is leaving Kuwait by 12 PM ST
1991 - President Bush announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had begun. (Because of the time difference, it was already the early morning of Feb. 24 in the Persian Gulf.)
1996 - The Iraqi News Agency reported that Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel al-Majid and his brother Saddam Kamel al-Majid, a pair of defectors who were also the sons-in-law of Saddam Hussein, were killed by clan members after returning to their homeland.
1996 - Dutch tourist Tosca Dieperink, 39, was killed in a holdup at a Miami service station. Two men later pleaded guilty to the slaying and were sentenced to prison.
1997 - Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building & kills 1
1997 - NBC TV shows "Schindler's List," completely uncensored, 65M watch
1997 - Scientists in Scotland announced they succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly"
2000 - Carlos Santana won eight Grammy awards, including album of the year for "Supernatural," tying the record set by Michael Jackson in 1983 for most trophies in one night.
Birthdays Today
1633 - Samuel Pepys, London England, navy expert/composer (Diary, Memoirs)
1649 - John Blow, composer of 1st English opera (Venus & Adonis), baptized
1685 - George Friedrich Handel, Halle Germany, organist/composer (Messiah)
1734 - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, Frankfurt, founder (House of Rothschild)
1824 - Lewis Cass Hunt, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1838 - Gilbert Moxley Sorrel, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1868 - William E B Du Bois, Mass, civil rights writer (Souls of Black Folk)
1883 - Karl Jaspers, Oldenburg Germany, existentialist philosopher
1904 - William L Shirer, broadcast journalist and historian (Rise & Fall of 3rd Reich)
1911 - G Mennen ("Soapy") Williams, Detroit, (Gov-D-Mich, 1949-60)
1929 - Elston Howard, Yankee catcher (1st black NY Yankee/1963 AL MVP)
1929 - Regine Crespin, Marseilles France, operatic soprano
1930 - Elston Howard (baseball: New York Yankees catcher: American League Baseball Writers' Award [1963])
1933 - Lee Calhoun (hurdler: National Track & Field Hall of Fame, Olympic Hall of Fame: the only Olympic athlete to win 110-meter hurdles twice)
1938 - Diana Varsi (actress: Peyton Place, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden)
1938 - Sylvia Chase (newscaster: ABC News and 20/20)
1939 - Peter Fonda (director, actor: Easy Rider, Futureworld, The Wild Angel's, Love and a .45; Jane's brother; Henry's son; Bridget's Dad)
1943 - Bobby Mitchell (golfer)
1943 - Fred Biletnikoff (football: Oakland Raiders WR: Super Bowl II, XI)
1944 - Johnny Winter (John Dawson III) (musician: Still Alive and Well, Second Winter)
1946 - Ken Boswell (baseball)
1946 - Rusty Young (musician: steel Guitar: group: Poco: Keep on Tryin', Crazy Love, Heart of the Night)
1947 - Shakira Caine, Guyana, actress (Man Who be King)/Miss Guyana (1967)
1950 - Jim Youngblood (football: LA Rams linebacker: Super Bowl XIV)
1950 - Steve Priest (musician: bass: group: The Sweet: Little Willy)
1951 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones (football: Dallas Cowboys DE: Super Bowl X, XI, XIII)
1951 - Eddie Dibbs (tennis)
1951 - Ray Oldham (football: Pittsburgh Steelers Safety: Super Bowl XIII)
1952 - Lorne Henning (hockey: New York Islanders: shares season record for shorthanded goals [3 in 1980])
1960 - Naruhito, crown prince of Japan
Famous deaths
0155 - Polycarp, disciple of Apostle John, arrested & burned at stake
1554 - Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane Grey's father, executed
1792 - Joshua Reynolds, English portrait painter (Simplicity), dies at 68
1797 - Antoine d'Auvergne, Fr opera composer (Coquette), dies at 83
1821 - John Keats, English Romantic poet "Ode on a Grecian Urn"), dies of tuberculosis at 25 in Rome
1848 - John Quincy Adams, 6th US pres (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at 80
1900 - William Butterfield, architect of the Gothic revival, dies
1906 - Johann Hoch, US murderer, executed
1924 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President (1913-21), dies
1930 - Horst Wessel, German Nazi brawler (wrote lyrics for "Die Fahne Hoch" -- the Horst Wessel Song), killed at 22
1931 - Nellie Melba, [Helen Mitchell], Australian soprano, dies
1934 - Edward William Elgar, English composer (Coronation Ode), dies at 76
1942 - Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (Die Welt von Gestern), dies at 60
1944 - Leo Hendrick Baekeland, inventor (Bakelite), dies
1965 - Stan Laurel, comedian (Laurel & Hardy), dies of heart attack at 74
1968 - Edna Ferber, US author (Giant, Showboat), dies at 80
1983 - Adrian Boult, conductor, dies
1990 - James Gavin, commandant US 82nd Airborn Div (Normandy), dies at 82
1995 - Art Kane, photographer, dies at 69
1995 - James Herriot, Scot author (All Creatures Great & Small), dies at 78
If you have other Birthdays or events to add for this day please E-mail me
Yesterday Tomorrow
