Today is Tuesday, February 23rd, the 54th day of the year 2021. There are still 311 days in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
February 23, 1836The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.
On this date:
In 1861President-elect Abraham Lincoln secretly came to Washington to take office after learning of a possible assassination attempt in Baltimore.
In 1870Mississippi was accepted back into the Union.
In 1903President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the Guantanamo Bay area to the United States.
In 1942The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II came when a Japanese submarine fired at an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
In 1945During World War II, U.S. Marines captured Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, where they hoisted two American flags (the second flag was shown in the iconic Associated Press photo).
In 1954The first mass vaccination of school children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh when approximately 5,000 students were vaccinated.
In 196574-year-old comedian Stan Laurel died in Santa Monica, California.
In 1981An attempted coup began in Spain when 200 members of the civil guard invaded parliament and took the legislature hostage. (The attempt collapsed 18 hours later, however.)
In 1995The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 4,000 mark for the first time, ending the day at 4,003.33.
In 199842 people were killed in tornadoes in central Florida, and around 2,600 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.
In 2007A Mississippi grand jury refused to bring new charges in 1955 against Emmett Till, the black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling a white woman whistle, and refused to prosecute Carolyn Bryant Donham Accused of manslaughter.
In 2006The Japanese Shizuka Arakawa amazed the favorites Sasha Cohen from the USA and Irina Slutskaya from Russia and won the gold medal for figure skaters at the Winter Olympics in Turin.
Ten years ago: In a major political reversal, the Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriages.
Five years ago: Donald Trump won the Nevada Republican Congregation; Marco Rubio was second, Ted Cruz third. A 26-year-old gunman killed four family members and set their home in Phoenix on fire before being shot by authorities.
A year ago: 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 death among those quarantined aboard a cruise ship. Iran raised its death toll to eight, the highest number outside of China. Italy reported 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths. The Italian authorities said they would stop the famous Venice Carnival events to stop the virus from spreading.
Today’s birthdaysFred Biletnikoff is 78 years old. The author John Sandford is 77 years old. Country rock musician Rusty Young is 75 years old. Actress Patricia Richardson and former NFL player Ed “Too Tall” Jones are 70 years old. Musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 69. Singer Howard Jones is 66. Musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 59. Country singer Dusty Drake is 57. Actor Kristin Davis and former tennis player Helena Sukova are 56. Actor Marc Price is 53. TV personality / businessman Daymond John (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 52. Actor Niecy Nash is 51. Musician Jeff Beres (sister Hazel) is 50. Country singer Steve Holy is 49. Musician Lasse Johansson ( The Cardigans) is 48. The film and theater composer Robert Lopez is 46. Actor Kelly Macdonald is 45. Rapper Residente (Calle 13) is 43. Actor Josh Gad is 40. Actor Emily Blunt and Aziz Ansari are 38. Actor Tye White (TV: “Greenleaf”) is 35. Actor Dakota Fanning is 27.
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