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What happened in history on this day: February 23?
On February 23 in ...
- 1778 - Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge.
- 1792 - Humane Society of Massachusetts incorporated (erected life-saving stations for distressed mariners).
- 1813 - First US raw cotton-to-cloth mill founded in Waltham, Massachusetts.
- 1821 - College of Apothecaries organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; first US pharmacy college.
- 1847 - Battle of Buena Vista, México; American major general Zachary Taylor defeats Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Mexican army.
- 1861 - US President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington DC to take office.
- 1861 - By popular referendum, Texas becomes seventh state to secede from US.
- 1869 - Louisiana governor signs public accommodations law.
- 1870 - Mississippi State is re-admitted to USA.
- 1879 - New Orleans Mint resumes striking dollar coins after 18-year hiatus.
- 1883 - Alabama becomes first US state to enact an antitrust law.
- 1883 - American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
- 1887 - US Congress grants Seal Rocks to San Francisco.
- 1892 - First college student government established, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
- 1900 - Steamer Rio de Janeiro sinks in San Francisco Bay, California.
- 1904 - Control of Panamá Canal Zone acquired by US for $10 million.
- 1905 - Rotary Club International established by four men in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- 1915 - Germany sinks US ships Carib and Evelyn and torpedoes Norwegian ship Regin.
- 1915 - Nevada enforces convenient divorce law.
- 1921 - First US transcontinental air mail flight arrives in New York City, New York from San Francisco, California.
- 1927 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill into law that created the Federal Radio Commission.
- 1936 - First rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake, New York, USA.
- 1939 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar (Special Award) to Walt Disney for screen innovation for the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney is presented one statuette and seven miniature statuettes.
- 1940 - RKO Radio Pictures releases Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio to theaters in the USA.
- 1942 - Japanese submarine fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, California, USA.
- 1945 - During the Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island's highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery records the event. Several hours later, more Marines head up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, records the raising of the second flag.
- 1947 - American General Dwight Eisenhower opens drive to raise US$170 million in aid for European Jews.
- 1954 - First mass inoculation with Salk vaccine (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
- 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1965 - Frank Gasparro is sworn in as Chief Engraver of the US Mint.
- 1967 - American 25th amendment (Presidential succession) declared ratified.
- 1967 - US troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War.
- 1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
- 1983 - US immigration judge Gordon Sacks orders Feodor Fedorenko deported to the Soviet Union, his birthplace. Fedorenko had served as a guard in a German death camp in Treblinka, Poland, between 1942 and 1945.
- 1983 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intention to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
- 1985 - US Senate confirms Edwin Meese III as Attorney General.
- 1989 - After protracted testimony, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11-9, President Bush's nomination of John Tower for Secretary of Defense.
- 1991 - The One Meridian Plaza fire kills three firefighters and destroys eight floors of the building.
- 1991 - US insists Iraq publicly announce it is leaving Kuwait by 12 PM EST.
- 1994 - A US District Court rules that Microsoft violated patents held by Stac Electronics, in data compression used in Microsoft's DoubleSpace in DOS 6. Microsoft is ordered to remove or replace the technology, and pay US$120 million in damages. The court also finds that Stac illegally used access to Microsoft's trade secrets to make Stacker compatible with DOS 6.0. Microsoft is awarded US$13.6 million in damages.
- 1995 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33 - the Dow's first ever close above 4,000.
- 1997 - Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building and kills one.
- 1997 - NBC TV airs the film Schindler's List in the USA, completely uncensored, 65 million watch.
- 1998 - Tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
- 2009 - American Express offers US$300 to a limited number of U.S. card holders who pay off their balances and close their accounts.
- 2009 - The Standard & Poor's 500 Index post its lowest closes since the spring of 1997, dropping 26.71 points, or 3.47 percent, to 743.34.
- 2009 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average posts its lowest closes since the spring of 1997, dropping 250.73 points, or 3.40 percent, to 7,114.94.
Births on February 23
- 1868 - Birth of William E B Du Bois in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA; civil rights writer (Souls of Black Folk).
- 1883 - Birth of Victor Fleming in Pasadena, California, USA; director (Wizard of Oz, Gone With Wind).
- 1904 - Birth of William L. Shirer in Chicago, Illinois, USA; radio journalist (CBS correspondent in Berlin), author (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich).
- 1911 - Birth of G Mennen Williams in Detroit, Michigan, USA; Supreme Court Justice, Governor (Democrat-Michigan, 1949-60).
- 1920 - Birth of Hall Overton in Bangor, Michigan, USA; composer (Enchanted Pear Tree).
- 1930 - Birth of Johnny Seven in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Ironside, Amy Prentiss).
- 1933 - Birth of Lee Quencey Calhoun in Laurel, Mississippi, USA; 110 metre hurdler (Olympics-gold-1956, 1960).
- 1938 - Birth of Diane Varsi in San Mateo, California, USA; actress (Peyton Place).
- 1938 - Birth of Sylvia Chase in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; newscaster (ABC Weekend News, 20/20).
- 1941 - Birth of William Hjörtsberg in New York City, New York, USA; writer (Gray Matters, Fallen Angel).
- 1943 - Birth of Bobby Wayne Mitchell in Chatham, Virginia, USA; PGA golfer (1971 Cleveland Open).
- 1943 - Birth of Jada Rowland in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Penny - Hamptons, Amy - Secret Storm, As the World Turns, The Doctors).
- 1946 - Birth of Rusty Young in California, USA; rock steel guitarist (Poco - "Heat of the Night").
- 1951 - Birth of Patricia Richardson in Bethesda, Maryland, USA; actress (Home Improvement, Double Trouble).
- 1952 - Birth of Brad Whitford in Massachusetts, USA; rock guitarist (Aerosmith - "Jamie Got a Gun").
- 1956 - Birth of Maren Jensen in Glendale, California, USA; actress (Battlestar Galactica).
- 1959 - Birth of John Arthur Wilson in Ceres, California, USA; PGA golfer (1994 Anheuser-Busch-4th).
- 1960 - Birth of Cindy Figg-Currier in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA; golfer (1994 British Open-6th).
- 1963 - Birth of Bobby Bonilla in New York City, New York, USA; outfielder (New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins).
- 1963 - Birth of Debbie Kruck in Danbury, Connecticut, USA; Ms Fitness USA (1994).
- 1967 - Birth of Steven C Stricker in Edgerton, Wisconsin, USA; PGA golfer (1994 Northern Telecom-second).
- 1971 - Birth of Shane Keller in Scarsdale, New York, USA; actor (Shane - Out of the Blue).
- 1973 - Birth of Robert Pipkins in Staten Island, New York, USA; luger (Olympics-1994).
- 1976 - Birth of Jeff O'Neill in Richmond Hill; NHL center (Hartford Whalers).
- 1977 - Birth of Angie Trostel in Oxford, Ohio; diver (Olympics-1996).
Deaths on February 23
- 1848 - John Quincy Adams, 6th US President (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at age 80.
- 1915 - Robert Smalls, Reconstruction congressman, dies at age 75 in South Carolina.
- 1924 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President (1913-21), dies.
- 1965 - Death of Stan Laurel at age 74 of a heart attack in California, USA; US film comedian (Laurel and Hardy).
- 1968 - Edna Ferber, US author (Giant, Showboat), dies at age 80.
- 1968 - Fannie Hurst, US author (Anatomy of Me), dies at age 78.
- 1990 - James Gavin, commandant US 82nd Airborn Division (Normandy), dies at age 82.
- 1995 - Death of Melvin English Franklin at age 52; American bass singer (The Temptations) (born 1942).
- 1997 - Death of Tony Williams at age 51 of a heart attack in Daly City, California, USA; jazz drummer ("The Tribute to Miles Davis" (Grammy Award, 1995)).
- 2003 - Death of Howie Epstein of suspected drug overdose in New Mexico, USA; bassist (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).
- 2016 - Death of Donald E. Williams, American astronaut (born 1942).
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