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What happened on February 23 - World events by date
Births1417 - Pope Paul II (d. 1471) 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 Friederich Händel, German composer (d. 1759) 1688 - Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741) 1723 - Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791) 1743 - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German-born banker (d. 1812) 1840 - Carl Menger, Austrian economist (d. 1921) 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 - Victor Fleming, American director (d. 1949) 1883 - Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969) 1889 - Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957) 1899 - Erich Kästner, German writer (d. 1974) 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, American pilot 1918 - Richard G. Butler, American fascist (d. 2004) 1924 - Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998) 1928 - Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (d. 1990) 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 1943 - Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach 1944 - Johnny Winter, American musician 1945 - Allan Boesak, South African activist 1951 - Ed Jones, American football player 1951 - Patricia Richardson, American actress 1952 - Brad Whitford, American musician (Aerosmith) 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 musician 1959 - Richard Dodds, British field hockey player 1960 - Alan Griffin, Australian politician and member for Bruce in the House of Representatives 1963 - Bobby Bonilla, former baseball player 1964 - Dana Scully, fictional character on the tv-show The X-Files, played by Gillian Anderson 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 1973 - André Tanneberger, German DJ 1974 - Jaime Villarreal, Mexican musician 1974 - Leko, American DJ 1977 - Kristina Šmigun, Estonian cross-country skier 1978 - Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (d. 2003) 1981 - Gareth Barry, English footballer 1983 - Mido, Egyptian footballer 1986 - Holly Brook, American musician 1994 - Dakota Fanning, American child actress
Deaths1100 - Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1077) 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 poltician (executed) 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 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) 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) 1934 - Edward Elgar, English composer (b. 1857) 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). 1965 - Stan Laurel, American 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) 1979 - W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900) 1990 - José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925) 1995 - Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942) 1995 - James Herriot, English writer (b. 1916) 1997 - Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (b. 1945) 2000 - Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957) 2000 - Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915) 2003 - Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910) 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)
Events1455 - 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. 1820 - Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed. 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, DC after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland. 1870 - Military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union. 1874 - Walter Winfield 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 Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. 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. 1945 - World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Surabachi 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 PoznaÅ„, 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). 1955 - Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France. 1956 - In a cosmic event known as the great flare, the Earth was bombarded with a burst of protons and other nuclei from a solar flare. 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 MarÃa Ruiz Mateos. 1983 - The 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. 1996 - William Bonin, first man to be executed by lethal injection in the state of california 1997 - A large fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir. 1998 - 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.
HolidaysRoman Empire - Terminalia held in honor of Terminus. Guyana - Mashramani-Republic Day. Russia - Defender of the Fatherland Day (formerly Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy). Brunei - National Day. Catholicism - Feast day of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (died 155) Saint Lazarus (d.867) Saint Milburga Blessed odilia of Mombeek |
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