February 23Birthdays & History

On this day: February 23 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 303Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.Europe
2. 532Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.EuropeMiddle East
3. 628Khosrow II, Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire, is overthrown.Middle East
4. 705Empress Wu Zetian abdicates the throne, restoring the Tang dynasty.Asia
5. 1455Traditionally the date of publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.Europe
6. 1725J. S. Bach leads his Tafel-Music Shepherd Cantata for the birthday of Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.Europe
7. 1763Berbice slave uprising in Guyana: The first major slave revolt in South America.Latin AmericaNorth America
8. 1778American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to help train the Continental Army.North America
9. 1820Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed and the conspirators arrested.Europe
10. 1836Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.North America
11. 1847Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.Latin AmericaNorth America
12. 1854The official independence of the Orange Free State, South Africa is declared.Africa
13. 1861President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.North America
14. 1870Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.North America
15. 1883Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law.North America
16. 1885Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.EuropeAsia
17. 1886Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of aluminium from the electrolysis of aluminium oxide, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister, Julia Brainerd Hall.North America
18. 1887The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.Europe
19. 1898Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J'Accuse...!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.Europe
20. 1900Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart's Hill fails.AfricaEurope
21. 1903Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".Latin AmericaNorth America
22. 1905Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.North America
23. 1909The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.North AmericaEurope
24. 1917First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar).Europe
25. 1927German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.Europe
26. 1927U.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.North America
27. 1934Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.Europe
28. 1941Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.North America
29. 1942World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.AsiaNorth America
30. 1943Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece.Europe
31. 1943The Cavan Orphanage fire kills thirty-five girls and an elderly cook.Europe
32. 1944The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.EuropeAsia
33. 1945World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.AsiaNorth America
34. 1945American Airlines Flight 009 crashes near Rural Retreat, Virginia, killing 17.North America
35. 1945World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.Europe
36. 1945World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.Europe
37. 1945World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free all 2,147 captives of the Los Baños internment camp, in what General Colin Powell later would refer to as "the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies".Asia
38. 1945World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.AsiaNorth America
39. 1947International Organization for Standardization is founded.Europe
40. 1950General elections are held in the United Kingdom.Europe
41. 1954The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.North America
42. 1958Five-time Argentine Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by rebels involved in the Cuban Revolution, on the eve of the Cuban Grand Prix. He was released the following day after the race.Latin America
43. 1966In 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.Middle East
44. 1971Operation Lam Son 719: South Vietnamese General Do Cao Tri was killed in a helicopter crash en route to taking control of the faltering campaign.Asia
45. 1974The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.North America
46. 1980Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.Middle EastNorth America
47. 1981In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.EuropeNorth America
48. 1983The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.North America
49. 1987Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.World
50. 1988Saddam Hussein begins the Anfal genocide against Kurds and Assyrians in northern Iraq.Middle East
51. 1991In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.Asia
52. 1998In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.North America
53. 1999Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.Middle East
54. 1999An avalanche buries the town of Galtür, Austria, killing 31.Europe
55. 2002An Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre carrying Intelsat 904.Latin America
56. 2007A 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.Europe
57. 2008The Japanese WINDS satellite is launched.Asia
58. 2008A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2.North AmericaOceania
59. 2010Unknown 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.Europe
60. 2012A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.Middle East
61. 2017The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army captures Al-Bab from ISIL.Middle East
62. 2018Parliamentary elections are held in Djibouti.Africa
63. 2019Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 freighter, crashes into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, killing all three people on board.North America
64. 2020Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American citizen, is shot and murdered by three white men after visiting a house under construction while jogging at a neighborhood in Satilla Shores near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.AfricaNorth America
65. 2021Four simultaneous prison riots leave at least 62 people dead in Ecuador.Latin America
66. 2025A snap election is held in Germany.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "February 23" / CC BY-SA 4.0