What happened on February 23? There are more than 270 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About February 23
February 23 is the 54th day of the year 2024. There are 312 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 8th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Parma, Idaho 83660 sunrise occured at 07:32 AM and sunset occured at 06:29 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Pisces. The modern birthstone for this month is Amethyst while the mystical birthstone is Bloodstone.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 341 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 28 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For February 23
- 303Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
- 1455Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
- 1660Charles XI becomes King of Sweden.
- 1739Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle, by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.
- 1778American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
- 1820Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
- 1821Alexander Ypsilantis starts the Greek War of Independence in Iași, Wallachia, modern-day Romania.
- 1836The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
- 1846John Henry Newman leaves the Church of England and is received into the Roman Catholic Church.
- 1847Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
- 1848The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
- 1854The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
- 1861President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1870In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
- 1883Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.
- 1886Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of man-made aluminum, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister Julia Brainerd Hall.
- 1887The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
- 1896The Tootsie Roll is invented.
- 1898Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing “J'accuse”, a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
- 1900In South Africa, Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart’s Hill.
- 1903Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.
- 1905Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world’s first service club.
- 1909The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
- 1917First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
- 1918First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser’s German troops near Narva and Pskov. In honor of this victory, the date is celebrated from 1923 onward as “Red Army Day”; it is renamed Defender of the Fatherland Day after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is colloquially known as “Men’s Day”.
- 1927German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
- 1927President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.
- 1934Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.
- 1941Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
- 1942World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the California coastline near Santa Barbara.
- 1943A fire breaks out at St. Joseph’s Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 36 people (35 of whom are children).
- 1944The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
- 1945World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
- 1945World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
- 1945World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.
- 1945World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed in a raid by 379 British bombers.
- 1945World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.
- 1947The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
- 1954The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
- 1955First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
- 1958Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
- 1966In Syria, Baath party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.
- 1974The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
- 1980Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
- 1981In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
- 1983The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
- 1987Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
- 1991Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
- 1991In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
- 1997A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.
- 1998In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
- 1998Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and “Crusaders”; the latter term is commonly interpreted to refer to the people of Europe and the United States.
- 1999An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
- 1999Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
- 2005The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the “positive values of colonialism”. After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.
- 2007A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
- 2008A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.
- 2010Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in Northern Italy, causing an environmental disaster.
Who Were Born On February 23?
- 1417Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
- 1443Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, King of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1490)
- 1583Jean-Baptiste Morin, French scientist (d. 1656)
- 1633Samuel Pepys, English naval administrator and man of letters, posthumously famous as a diarist (d. 1703)
- 1646Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (d. 1709)
- 1648Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (d. 1730)
- 1680Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, French colonizer and Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)
- 1685George Frideric Handel, German/British Baroque composer (d. 1759)
- 1723Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
- 1729Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (d. 1809)
- 1744Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German-born banker (d. 1812)
- 1809William Sprague, American minister and politician from Michigan (d. 1868)
- 1840Frederick Wicks, English author and inventor (d. 1910)
- 1842Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)
- 1850César Ritz, Swiss hotelier (d. 1918)
- 1852Emperor Duc Duc (pronounced “dzup-duc”), the fifth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1883)
- 1868Anna Hoffman-Uddgren, Swedish director and actress (d. 1947)
- 1868W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights leader (d. 1963)
- 1873Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (d. 1929)
- 1874Konstantin Päts, Estonian president (d. 1956)
- 1878Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and art theorist (d. 1935)
- 1883Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969)
- 1889John Gilbert Winant, American politician (d. 1947)
- 1889Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
- 1889Victor Fleming, American director (d. 1949)
- 1891Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player (d. 1978)
- 1899Erich Kästner, German writer (d. 1974)
- 1899Norman Taurog, American film director (d. 1981)
- 1901Edgar Ende, German painter (d. 1965)
- 1904Leopold Trepper, Soviet spy (d. 1982)
- 1904Terence Fisher, English film director (d. 1980)
- 1904William L. Shirer, American historian (d. 1993)
- 1908William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
- 1914Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
- 1915Jon Hall, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1915Paul Tibbets, US Air Force retired Brigadier General and pilot of B-29 “Enola Gay” over Hiroshima (d. 2007)
- 1918Richard G. Butler, founder of Aryan Nations (d. 2004)
- 1920Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian politician
- 1923Mary Francis Shura, American writer (d. 1991)
- 1923Miljenko Smoje, Dalmatian writer and journalist (d. 1995)
- 1923Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan politician
- 1923Yiannis Grivas, Greek judge, 87th Prime Minister of Greece
- 1924Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African born physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
- 1924Claude Sautet, French film director (d. 2000)
- 1927Régine Crespin, French operatic soprano (d. 2007)
- 1928Hans Herrmann, German race car driver
- 1928Vasili Lazarev, cosmonaut (d. 1990)
- 1929Elston Howard, American baseball player (d. 1980)
- 1931Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (d. 2004)
- 1932Majel Barrett, American actress (d. 2008)
- 1933Donna J. Stone, American poet (d. 1994)
- 1937Tom Osborne, American football coach and politician
- 1938Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
- 1938Paul Morrissey, American film director
- 1940Peter Fonda, American actor
- 1941Ron Hunt, baseball player
- 1943Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
- 1944Bernard Cornwell, English historical novelist
- 1944John Sandford, American novelist
- 1944Johnny Winter, American musician
- 1945Allan Boesak, South African activist
- 1946Rusty Young, American country-rock guitarist (Poco)
- 1947John McWethy, American journalist (d. 2008)
- 1947Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician
- 1948Doug Moench, American comic book writer
- 1949Marc Garneau, Canadian astronaut
- 1950Maxi, Irish singer and radio personality
- 1951Ed Jones, American football player
- 1951Patricia Richardson, American actress
- 1952Brad Whitford, American musician (Aerosmith)
- 1953Kenny Bee,Hong Kong actor,musician and singer
- 1953Satoru Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
- 1954Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
- 1955Flip Saunders, American basketball coach
- 1955Howard Jones, British pop singer
- 1955Tom Bodett, American voice actor, radio personality, and writer
- 1957Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (d. 2009)
- 1958David Sylvian, English musician (Japan, Nine Horses)
- 1958Tony Barrell, English writer and journalist
- 1959Clayton Anderson, American astronaut
- 1959Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
- 1960Alan Griffin, Australian politician
- 1960Ivan Vdović, also known as VD, Yugoslavian musician (Šarlo Akrobata) (d. 1992)
- 1960Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
- 1961Kelly Hansen, American drummer (Summer Lights)
- 1962John David Brown, American illustrator, cartoonist
- 1962Michael Wilton, American musician (Queensrÿche)
- 1963Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
- 1963Radosław Sikorski, Polish politician
- 1964David E. Clemmer, American ion mobility-mass spectrometrist, 2006 recipient of Biemann Medal
- 1965Helena Suková, Czech former tennis player
- 1965John Norum, Norwegian guitarist (Europe)
- 1965Michael Dell, American computer manufacturer
- 1966Neal McDonough, American actor
- 1967Chris Vrenna, American musician, producer and sound engineer Nine Inch Nails, Tweaker
- 1967Tamsin Greig, English actress
- 1968Justin Bell, British racing driver
- 1969Daymond John, American fashion designer
- 1969Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
- 1969Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
- 1970Marie-Josée Croze, Canadian actress
- 1970Niecy Nash, American actress
- 1971Don Maxwell, Canadian cricketer
- 1971Jeong Chan, South Korean actor
- 1971Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
- 1971Melinda Messenger, English television presenter
- 1972Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
- 1972Rondell White, American baseball player
- 1972Steve Holy, American country singer
- 1973Jack Case, American artist
- 1973Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
- 1974Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
- 1974Leko, American DJ
- 1975Michael Cornacchia, American actor
- 1975Natalia Verbeke, Argentine actress
- 1975Robert Lopez, American composer
- 1976Kelly Macdonald, British actress
- 1976Scott Elarton, American baseball player
- 1977Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian cross-country skier
- 1978Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
- 1978Jo Joyner, English actress
- 1978René Pérez, Puerto Rican musician (Calle 13)
- 1979S.E. Cupp, American author and political commentator
- 1981Charles Tillman, American football player
- 1981Gareth Barry, English footballer
- 1982Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor
- 1982Karan Singh, Indian actor
- 1982Malia Metella, French swimmer
- 1983Aziz Ansari, Indian-American comedian
- 1983Courtney Culkin, American Playboy Playmate
- 1983Emily Blunt, British actress
- 1983Mido, Egyptian footballer
- 1983Mirco Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
- 1986Emerson da Conceição, Brazilian footballer
- 1986Jerod Mayo, American football player
- 1986Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese idol (KAT-TUN)
- 1986Ola Svensson, Swedish pop singer
- 1986Skylar Grey, American musician
- 1989Evan Bates, American ice dancer
- 1992Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1994Dakota Fanning, American actress
Who Died On February 23?
- 155Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna (b. 69)
- 943Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
- 1011Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz (b. 940)
- 1072Peter Damian, theologian and Doctor of the Church (b. 1007)
- 1100Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1076)
- 1270Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
- 1447Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
- 1447Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
- 1464Zhengtong, Emperor of China (b. 1427)
- 1526Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies
- 1554Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and nobelman (b. c.1515)
- 1572Pierre Certon, French composer
- 1603Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
- 1669Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (b. 1600)
- 1704Georg Muffat, French composer (b. 1653)
- 1766Stanisław I Leszczyński, King of Poland (b. 1677)
- 1781George Taylor, American signatory to the Declaration of Independence (b. c.1716)
- 1792Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
- 1800Joseph Warton, English literary critic (b. 1722)
- 1821John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
- 1848John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
- 1855Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
- 1859Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish Romantic poet (b. 1812)
- 1879Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
- 1897Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
- 1908Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (b. 1823)
- 1922Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
- 1930Horst Wessel, Nazi ideologue and composer (b. 1907)
- 1931Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera soprano (b. 1861)
- 1934Edward Elgar, English composer (b. 1857)
- 1944Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Flemish-American chemist and inventor of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite (b. 1863)
- 1946Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (hanged) (b. 1885)
- 1948John Robert Gregg, Irish-born publisher and inventor (b. 1866)
- 1955Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
- 1957Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
- 1960Arthur Legat, Belgian racing driver (b. 1898)
- 1961Davey Crockett, American baseball player (b. 1875)
- 1965Stan Laurel, British actor and comedian (b. 1890)
- 1969King Saud of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
- 1970Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (b. 1904)
- 1973Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
- 1974Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)
- 1976L. S. Lowry, English artist (b. 1887)
- 1979W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900)
- 1983Herbert Howells, English composer (b. 1892)
- 1990José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
- 1992Markos Vafiadis, Greek politician (b. 1906)
- 1995James Herriot, English writer (b. 1916)
- 1995Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942)
- 1996William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (b. 1947)
- 1997Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (b. 1945)
- 1999Carlos Hathcock, USMC sniper (b. 1942)
- 2000Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
- 2000Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
- 2001Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2003Howie Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)
- 2003Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
- 2003Titos Vandis, Greek actor (b. 1917)
- 2004Carl Anderson, American singer (b. 1945)
- 2004Carl Liscombe, Canadian hockey player (b. 1915)
- 2004Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
- 2004Neil Ardley, English jazz pianist and composer (b. 1937)
- 2004Sikander Bakht, Governor of Kerala (b. 1918)
- 2004Vijay Anand, Indian film director (b. 1934)
- 2006Benno Besson, Swiss actor and film director (b. 1922)
- 2006Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
- 2007Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
- 2007John Ritchie, British footballer (b. 1941)
- 2008Douglas Fraser, Scottish pilot (b. 1916)
- 2008Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian prime minister and president (b. 1950)
- 2008Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and motorsport journalist (b. 1917)
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