Egftnjytyk

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

Events

• 
  303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.


• 
  532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.


• 
  1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.


• 
  1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile.


• 
  1739 – At York Castle, the outlaw Dick Turpin is identified by his former schoolteacher. Turpin had been using the name Richard Palmer.


• 
  1778 – American Revolutionary War: 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 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.


• 
  1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor 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 the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.


• 
  1870 – Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.


• 
  1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law.


• 
  1885 – Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.


• 
  1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of man-made aluminium, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister, Julia Brainerd Hall.


• 
  1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.


• 
  1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J'Accuse…!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.


• 
  1900 – Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart's Hill fails.


• 
  1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".


• 
  1905 – Chicago 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 (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).


• 
  1927 – U.S. President 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.


• 1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.


• 
  1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.


• 
  1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.


• 
  1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.


• 
  1943 – A fire breaks out at Saint Joseph's Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 35 children and one adult.


• 1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece.


• 
  1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.


• 
  1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.


• 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.


• 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.


• 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.


• 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.


• 
  1947 – International Organization for Standardization is founded.


• 
  1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.


• 
  1966 – In Syria, Ba'ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist.


• 
  1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.


• 
  1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.


• 
  1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.


• 
  1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.


• 
  1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.


• 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.


• 
  1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.


• 
  1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.


• 
  2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 88. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.


• 
  2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2.


• 
  2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2​¹⁄₂ million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster.


• 
  2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.


• 
  2017 – The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army captures Al-Bab from ISIL.

Births

• 
  1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)


• 1417 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1479)


• 
  1443 – Matthias Corvinus, Hungarian king (d. 1490)


• 
  1529 – Onofrio Panvinio, Italian historian (d. 1568)


• 
  1539 – Henry XI of Legnica, thrice Duke of Legnica (d. 1588)


• 1539 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (d. 1612)


• 
  1583 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (d. 1656)


• 
  1592 – Balthazar Gerbier, Dutch painter (d. 1663)


• 
  1633 – Samuel Pepys, English diarist and politician (d. 1703)


• 
  1646 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (d. 1709)


• 
  1680 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician, 2nd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)


• 
  1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (d. 1759)


• 
  1723 – Richard Price, Welsh-English minister and philosopher (d. 1791)


• 
  1744 – Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker and businessman (d. 1812)


• 
  1831 – Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (d. 1915)


• 
  1840 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist and educator (d. 1921)


• 
  1842 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (d. 1906)


• 
  1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz Hotel, London and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)


• 
  1868 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (d. 1963)


• 1868 – Anna Hofman-Uddgren, Swedish actress, singer, and director (d. 1947)


• 
  1873 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (d. 1929)


• 
  1874 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Estonia (d. 1956)


• 
  1878 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (d. 1935)


• 
  1883 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (d. 1969)


• 1883 – Guy C. Wiggins, American painter (d. 1962)


• 
  1889 – Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)


• 1889 – Cyril Delevanti, English-American actor (d. 1975)


• 1889 – Victor Fleming, American director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 1949)


• 1889 – John Gilbert Winant, American captain, pilot, and politician, 60th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1947)


• 
  1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)


• 
  1894 – Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1978)


• 
  1899 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (d. 1974)


• 1899 – Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (d. 1981)


• 
  1904 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (d. 1980)


• 1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)


• 
  1908 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)


• 
  1915 – Jon Hall, American actor and director (d. 1979)


• 1915 – Paul Tibbets, American general and pilot (d. 2007)


• 
  1919 – Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (d. 1995)


• 
  1920 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2018)


• 
  1923 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 2014)


• 1923 – Ioannis Grivas, Greek judge and politician, 176th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2016)


• 1923 – Dante Lavelli, American football player (d. 2009)


• 1923 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (d.1986)


• 1923 – Mary Francis Shura, American author (d. 1991)


• 
  1924 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)


• 
  1925 – Louis Stokes, American lawyer and politician (d. 2015)


• 
  1927 – Régine Crespin, French soprano and actress (d. 2007)


• 
  1928 – Hans Herrmann, German race car driver


• 1928 – Vasily Lazarev, Russian colonel, physician, and astronaut (d. 1990)


• 
  1929 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (d. 2008)


• 1929 – Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (d. 1980)


• 
  1930 – Paul West, English-American author, poet, and academic (d. 2015)


• 
  1931 – Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (d. 2004)


• 
  1932 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (d. 2008)


• 
  1937 – Tom Osborne, American football player, coach, and politician


• 
  1938 – Paul Morrissey, American director, producer, and screenwriter


• 1938 – Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)


• 
  1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter


• 1940 – Jackie Smith, American football player


• 
  1941 – Ron Hunt, American baseball player


• 
  1943 – Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach


• 1943 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer


• 
  1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author and educator


• 1944 – Florian Fricke, German keyboard player and composer (d. 2001)


• 1944 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)


• 
  1945 – Allan Boesak, South African cleric and politician


• 
  1946 – Rusty Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist


• 
  1947 – Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician, Speaker of the Danish Parliament
  


• 1947 – Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and author


• 
  1948 – Bill Alexander, English director and producer


• 1948 – Trevor Cherry, English footballer


• 1948 – Steve Priest, English singer-songwriter and bass player


• 
  1949 – César Aira, Argentinian author and translator


• 1949 – Marc Garneau, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician


• 
  1950 – Rebecca Goldstein, American philosopher and author


• 
  1951 – Eddie Dibbs, American tennis player


• 1951 – Debbie Friedman, American singer-songwriter of Jewish melodies (d. 2011)^[1]
  


• 1951 – Ed "Too Tall" Jones, American football player and boxer


• 1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress


• 
  1952 – Brad Whitford, American guitarist and songwriter


• 
  1953 – Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor


• 1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese race car driver


• 
  1954 – Rajini Thiranagama, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 1989)


• 1954 – Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian captain and politician, 3rd President of Ukraine
  


• 
  1955 – Howard Jones, English singer-songwriter


• 1955 – Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)


• 
  1956 – Sandra Osborne, Scottish politician


• 
  1958 – David Sylvian, English singer-songwriter


• 
  1959 – Clayton Anderson, American engineer and astronaut


• 1959 – Nick de Bois, English politician


• 1959 – Ian Liddell-Grainger, Scottish soldier and politician


• 1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress


• 
  1960 – Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
  


• 
  1962 – Michael Wilton, American guitarist


• 
  1963 – Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player


• 1963 – Radosław Sikorski, Polish journalist and politician, 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
  


• 
  1964 – John Norum, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter


• 
  1965 – Michael Dell, American businessman


• 1965 – Helena Suková, Czech-Monacan tennis player


• 
  1967 – Steve Stricker, American golfer


• 1967 – Chris Vrenna, American drummer, songwriter, and producer


• 
  1969 – Michael Campbell, New Zealand-Australian golfer


• 1969 – Martine Croxall, English journalist and television news presenter


• 1969 – Daymond John, American fashion designer and businessman, founded FUBU
  


• 
  1970 – Niecy Nash, American actress and producer


• 
  1971 – Carin Koch, Swedish golfer


• 1971 – Melinda Messenger, English model and television host


• 1971 – Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player


• 
  1972 – Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer


• 1972 – Rondell White, American baseball player


• 
  1973 – Jeff Nordgaard, American-Polish basketball player


• 
  1974 – Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer


• 1974 – Robbi Kempson, South African rugby player


• 
  1975 – Michael Cornacchia, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter


• 
  1976 – Scott Elarton, American baseball player and coach


• 1976 – Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress


• 1976 – Jeff O'Neill, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster


• 
  1977 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier


• 
  1978 – Residente, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter


• 1978 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)


• 
  1979 – S. E. Cupp, American journalist and author


• 
  1981 – Gareth Barry, English footballer


• 1981 – Josh Gad, American actor, producer, and screenwriter


• 1981 – Charles Tillman, American football player


• 1982 – Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor and screenwriter


• 
  1983 – Mido, Egyptian footballer and sportscaster


• 1983 – Aziz Ansari, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter


• 1983 – Emily Blunt, English actress


• 
  1986 – Emerson Conceição, Brazilian footballer


• 1986 – Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter


• 1986 – Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor


• 1986 – Jerod Mayo, American football player


• 1986 – Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter


• 
  1987 – Ab-Soul, American rapper


• 1987 – Theophilus London, Trinidadian-American singer-songwriter and producer


• 1987 – Zak Kirkup, Member of the Parliament of Western Australia
  


• 
  1988 – Nicolás Gaitán, Argentinian footballer


• 
  1989 – Evan Bates, American ice dancer


• 
  1989 – Jérémy Pied, French footballer


• 
  1990 – Kevin Connauton, Canadian ice hockey player


• 1990 – Terry Hawkridge, English footballer


• 1990 – Marco Scandella, Canadian ice hockey player


• 
  1992 – Casemiro, Brazilian footballer


• 1992 – Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer


• 
  1992 – Samara Weaving, Australian actress and model


• 
  1993 – Chris Grevsmuhl, Australian rugby league player


• 
  1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress


• 
  1995 – Andrew Wiggins, Canadian basketball player


• 
  2002 – Emilia Jones, British actress

Deaths

• 
  715 – Al-Walid I, Umayyad caliph (b. 668)


• 
  908 – Li Keyong, Shatuo military governor during the Tang Dynasty in China (b. 856)


• 
  943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)


• 943 – David I, prince of Tao-Klarjeti (Georgia)


• 
  1011 – Willigis, German archbishop (b. 940)


• 
  1100 – Emperor Zhezong of Song (b. 1076)


• 
  1270 – Isabel of France (b. 1225)


• 
  1447 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)


• 1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)


• 
  1464 – Emperor Yingzong of Ming (b. 1427)


• 
  1473 – Arnold, Duke of Gelderland (b. 1410)


• 
  1526 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies (b. c. 1479)


• 
  1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire (b. 1515)


• 
  1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)


• 1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)


• 
  1620 – Nicholas Fuller, English politician (b. 1543)


• 
  1704 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (b. 1653)


• 
  1766 – Stanisław Leszczyński, Polish king (b. 1677)


• 
  1781 – George Taylor, Irish-American blacksmith and politician (b. 1716)


• 
  1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (b. 1723)


• 
  1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)


• 
  1848 – John Quincy Adams, American politician, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)


• 
  1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)


• 
  1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1812)


• 
  1879 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and politician, 10th Minister President of Prussia (b. 1803)


• 
  1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer and educator (b. 1828)


• 
  1900 – Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1867)


• 
  1908 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (b. 1823)


• 
  1918 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882)


• 
  1930 – Horst Wessel, German SA officer (b. 1907)


• 
  1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano and actress (b. 1861)


• 
  1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)


• 
  1944 – Leo Baekeland, Belgian-American chemist and engineer (b. 1863)


• 
  1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (b. 1885)


• 
  1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-American publisher and educator (b. 1866)


• 
  1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)


• 
  1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (b. 1890)


• 
  1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress and producer (b. 1933)


• 1969 – Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 2nd King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)


• 
  1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)


• 
  1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (b. 1895)


• 
  1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)


• 
  1979 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian businessman and politician, 25th Premier of British Columbia (b. 1900)


• 
  1983 – Herbert Howells, English organist and composer (b. 1892)


• 
  1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran engineer and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)


• 
  1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)


• 
  1997 – Tony Williams, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1945)


• 
  1998 – Philip Abbott, American actor and director (b. 1924)


• 
  1999 – The Renegade, American wrestler (b. 1965)


• 
  2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1957)


• 2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (b. 1915)


• 
  2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (b. 1955)


• 2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and academic (b. 1910)


• 
  2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1934)


• 2004 – Sikander Bakht, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1918)


• 
  2006 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)


• 
  2007 – John Ritchie, English footballer (b. 1941)


• 
  2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (b. 1950)


• 2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (b. 1917)


• 
  2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban plumber and activist (b. 1967)


• 
  2011 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (b. 1923)


• 
  2012 – William Raggio, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)


• 2012 – David Sayre, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1924)


• 2012 – Kazimierz Żygulski, Polish sociologist and activist (b. 1919)


• 
  2013 – Eugene Bookhammer, American soldier and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (b. 1918)


• 2013 – Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (b. 1920)


• 2013 – Lotika Sarkar, Indian lawyer and academic (b. 1945)


• 
  2014 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English Holocaust survivor, pianist and educator (b. 1903)


• 2014 – Roger Hilsman, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1919)


• 
  2015 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (b. 1918)


• 2015 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1942)


• 2015 – W. E. "Bill" Dykes, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)


• 
  2016 – Peter Lustig, German television host and author (b. 1937)


• 2016 – Jacqueline Mattson, American baseball player (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  
  
  
  • 
    Polycarp of Smyrna
  
  
  • Serenus the Gardener
  
  
  • February 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Mashramani-Republic Day (Guyana)


• 
  Meteņi (Latvia)


• National Day (Brunei)


• 
  Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy in the former Soviet Union, also held in various former Soviet republics:
  
  
  
  • 
    Defender of the Fatherland Day (Russia)
  
  
  • 
    Defender of the Fatherland and Armed Forces day (Belarus)
  
  
  • 
    Armed Forces Day (Tajikistan) (Tajikistan)
  
  
  
  

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 23.

• BBC: On This Day


• 
  


• 
  The New York Times: On This Day


• Today in Canadian History