February 23
1685 - Composer George Frideric Handel was born in Germany.
1822 - Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836 - Mexican general Santa Ana began the siege of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 - U.S. troops under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican general Santa Ana at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.
1848 - John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, died at age 80 in Washington, D.C., two days after suffering a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives.
1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office after an assassination plot was foiled in Baltimore.
1870 - Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1896 - The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield.
1898 - French novelist Emile Zola was convicted of libel and sentenced to jail for writing his "J'accuse" letter accusing the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Capt. Alfred Dreyfus.
1903 - President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
1942 - The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
1945 - U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The scene was captured in one of the most iconic photographs of all time.
1954 - The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
1981 - An attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)
1991 - President George H.W. Bush announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had begun.
1995 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 4,000 mark for the first time, ending the day at 4,003.33.
1997 - Scottish scientists announced the successful cloning of a sheep, named Dolly.
1999 - A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted white supremacist John William King of murder in the dragging death of an African-American man, James Byrd Jr.
2000 - Carlos Santana won eight Grammy Awards for his album "Supernatural," tying the record set by Michael Jackson in 1983 for "Thriller."
2003 - Norah Jones won five Grammy Awards for the album "Come Away With Me."
2007 - A Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.
2011 - The Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
2020 - Chinese President Xi Jinping defended the Communist Party’s response to the coronavirus as “timely and effective,” but warned that the epidemic was still “grim and complex.” Japan reported the third fatality from among those who’d been aboard a quarantined cruise ship. Iran raised its death toll to eight, the highest toll outside China; Italy reported 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths. Italian authorities said they would shut down Venice’s famed Carnival events in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Birthdays
26 - Andrew Wiggins (basketball player)
27 - Dakota Fanning (actress)
29 - Samara Weaving (actress)
35 - Tye White (actor)
35 - Skylar Grey (singer)
38 - Aziz Ansari (actor)
38 - Emily Blunt (actress)
40 - Josh Gad (actor)
45 - Kelly Macdonald (actress)
49 - Steve Holy (country singer)
51 - Niecy Nash (actress)
53 - Marc Price (actor)
56 - Kristin Davis (actress)
57 - Dusty Drake (country singer)
66 - Howard Jones (singer)
70 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones (football player)
70 - Patricia Richardson (actress)
78 - Fred Biletnikoff (football player)
84 - Tom Osborne (football coach)
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Today in Sports History - February 23
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NFL operations did fall within coverage of antitrust laws.
1964 - Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 where he led the pack for a record 184 of the 200 laps.
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points.
1983 - Herschel Walker signed a three-year, $5 million contract with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.
1985 - Goaltender Patrick Roy makes his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens.
1987 - Nate McMillan of the Seattle SuperSonics set an NBA single-game record with 25 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
1991 - North Carolina became the first NCAA team to win 1,500 basketball games.
2000 - Robby Knieval made a successful motorcycle jump of 200 feet over an oncoming train.
2014 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks a 55-race winless streak en route to winning his second Daytona 500.
1685 - Composer George Frideric Handel was born in Germany.
1822 - Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836 - Mexican general Santa Ana began the siege of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 - U.S. troops under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican general Santa Ana at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.
1848 - John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, died at age 80 in Washington, D.C., two days after suffering a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives.
1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office after an assassination plot was foiled in Baltimore.
1870 - Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1896 - The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield.
1898 - French novelist Emile Zola was convicted of libel and sentenced to jail for writing his "J'accuse" letter accusing the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Capt. Alfred Dreyfus.
1903 - President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
1942 - The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
1945 - U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The scene was captured in one of the most iconic photographs of all time.
1954 - The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.
1981 - An attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)
1991 - President George H.W. Bush announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had begun.
1995 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 4,000 mark for the first time, ending the day at 4,003.33.
1997 - Scottish scientists announced the successful cloning of a sheep, named Dolly.
1999 - A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted white supremacist John William King of murder in the dragging death of an African-American man, James Byrd Jr.
2000 - Carlos Santana won eight Grammy Awards for his album "Supernatural," tying the record set by Michael Jackson in 1983 for "Thriller."
2003 - Norah Jones won five Grammy Awards for the album "Come Away With Me."
2007 - A Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.
2011 - The Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
2020 - Chinese President Xi Jinping defended the Communist Party’s response to the coronavirus as “timely and effective,” but warned that the epidemic was still “grim and complex.” Japan reported the third fatality from among those who’d been aboard a quarantined cruise ship. Iran raised its death toll to eight, the highest toll outside China; Italy reported 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths. Italian authorities said they would shut down Venice’s famed Carnival events in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Birthdays
26 - Andrew Wiggins (basketball player)
27 - Dakota Fanning (actress)
29 - Samara Weaving (actress)
35 - Tye White (actor)
35 - Skylar Grey (singer)
38 - Aziz Ansari (actor)
38 - Emily Blunt (actress)
40 - Josh Gad (actor)
45 - Kelly Macdonald (actress)
49 - Steve Holy (country singer)
51 - Niecy Nash (actress)
53 - Marc Price (actor)
56 - Kristin Davis (actress)
57 - Dusty Drake (country singer)
66 - Howard Jones (singer)
70 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones (football player)
70 - Patricia Richardson (actress)
78 - Fred Biletnikoff (football player)
84 - Tom Osborne (football coach)
========================================
Today in Sports History - February 23
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NFL operations did fall within coverage of antitrust laws.
1964 - Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 where he led the pack for a record 184 of the 200 laps.
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points.
1983 - Herschel Walker signed a three-year, $5 million contract with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL.
1985 - Goaltender Patrick Roy makes his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens.
1987 - Nate McMillan of the Seattle SuperSonics set an NBA single-game record with 25 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
1991 - North Carolina became the first NCAA team to win 1,500 basketball games.
2000 - Robby Knieval made a successful motorcycle jump of 200 feet over an oncoming train.
2014 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks a 55-race winless streak en route to winning his second Daytona 500.
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