http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Feb 23, 1954: Children receive first polio vaccine
On this day in 1954, a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, receive the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk.
Though not as devastating as the plague or influenza, poliomyelitis was a highly contagious disease that emerged in terrifying outbreaks and seemed impossible to stop. Attacking the nerve cells and sometimes the central nervous system, polio caused muscle deterioration, paralysis and even death. Even as medicine vastly improved in the first half of the 20th century in the Western world, polio still struck, affecting mostly children but sometimes adults as well. The most famous victim of a 1921 outbreak in America was future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then a young politician. The disease spread quickly, leaving his legs permanently paralyzed.
In the late 1940s, the March of Dimes, a grassroots organization founded with President Roosevelt's help to find a way to defend against polio, enlisted Dr. Jonas Salk, head of the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Salk found that polio had as many as 125 strains of three basic types, and that an effective vaccine needed to combat all three. By growing samples of the polio virus and then deactivating, or "killing" them by adding a chemical called formalin, Salk developed his vaccine, which was able to immunize without infecting the patient.
After mass inoculations began in 1954, everyone marveled at the high success rate--some 60-70 percent--until the vaccine caused a sudden outbreak of some 200 cases. After it was determined that the cases were all caused by one faulty batch of the vaccine, production standards were improved, and by August 1955 some 4 million shots had been given. Cases of polio in the U.S. dropped from 14,647 in 1955 to 5,894 in 1956, and by 1959 some 90 other countries were using Salk's vaccine.
A later version of the polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, used a weakened form of the live virus and was swallowed instead of injected. It was licensed in 1962 and soon became more popular than Salk's vaccine, as it was cheaper to make and easier for people to take. There is still no cure for polio once it has been contracted, but the use of vaccines has virtually eliminated polio in the United States. Globally, there are now around 250,000 cases each year, mostly in developing countries. The World Health Organization has set a goal of eradicating polio from the entire world by 2010.
Feb 23, 1917: Germans begin withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line
On this day in 1917, German troops begin a well-planned withdrawal—ordered several weeks previously by Kaiser Wilhelm—to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line, solidifying their defense and digging in for a continued struggle on the Western Front in World War I.
One month after Paul von Hindenburg succeeded Erich von Falkenhayn as chief of the German army's general staff in August 1916, he ordered the construction of a heavily fortified zone running several miles behind the active front between the north coast of France and Verdun, near the border between France and Belgium. Its aim would be to hold the last line of German defense and brutally crush any Allied breakthrough before it could reach the Belgian or German frontier. The British referred to it as the Hindenburg Line, for its mastermind; it was known to the Germans as the Siegfried Line.
In the wake of exhausting and bloody battles at Verdun and the Somme, and with the U.S edging ever closer to entering the war, Germany's leaders looked to improve their defensive positions on the Western Front. The withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line meant that German troops were removed to a more uniform line of trenches, reducing the length of the line they had to defend by 25 miles and freeing up 13 army divisions to serve as reserve troops. On their way, German forces systematically destroyed the land they passed through, burning farmhouses, poisoning wells, mining abandoned buildings and demolishing roads.
The German command correctly estimated that the move would gain them eight weeks of respite before the Allies could begin their attacks again; it also threw a wrench into the Allied strategy by removing their army from the very positions that British and French joint command had planned to strike next. After the withdrawal, which was completed May 5, 1917, the Hindenburg Line, considered impregnable by many on both sides of the conflict, became the German army's stronghold. Allied armies did not break it until October 1918, one month before the armistice.
Feb 23, 1778: Friedrich von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge
Friedrich Wilhelm Rudolf Gerhard August, Freiherr von Steuben, a Prussian military officer, arrives at General George Washington's encampment at Valley Forge on this day in 1778 and commences training soldiers in close-order drill, instilling new confidence and discipline in the demoralized Continental Army.
Baron von Steuben, as he is better known, was the son of a military engineer and became a Prussian officer himself at the age of 17. He served with distinction and was quickly promoted from infantry to Frederick the Great's General Staff. In 1763, at age 33 and with the rank of captain, he was discharged for unknown reasons. His title of freiherr, or baron, came with his subsequent post as chamberlain (or palace manager) to the petty court of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in Swabia, or the southwestern Holy Roman Empire, in what is now Baden-Wuerrtemberg. Employed by an indebted prince, von Steuben searched for more lucrative employment in foreign armies. The French minister of war recommended von Steuben to Benjamin Franklin as a resource to the Continental Army in 1777. Franklin in turn passed on word of Steuben's availability to George Washington, and by February 23, 1778, he was among the desperate Continentals camped at Valley Forge.
Von Steuben, who did not speak English, drafted a drill manual in French, which Alexander Hamilton and Nathanael Greene then translated into English. The Prussian drill techniques he shared were far more advanced than those of other European armies, let alone those of the ragtag Patriots. The ego-crushing methods of modern boot camp were practiced among the shoeless soldiers of Valley Forge with remarkable efficacy. Most important for 18th-century battle was an efficient method of firing and reloading weapons, which von Steuben forced the Patriots to practice until it became second nature.
Before von Steuben's arrival, colonial American soldiers were notorious for their slovenly camp conditions. Von Steuben insisted on reorganization to establish basic hygiene. He demanded that kitchens and latrines be put on opposite sides of the camp, with latrines facing a downhill slope. (Just having latrines was novelty to the Continental troops who were accustomed to living among their own filth.)
On the merit of his efforts at Valley Forge, Washington recommended that von Steuben be named inspector general of the Continental Army; Congress complied. In this capacity, von Steuben propagated his methods throughout the Patriot forces by circulating his Blue Book, entitled Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
303 - Emperor Diocletian orders general persecution of
Christians
1455 - Johannes Gutenberg prints 1st book, Bible (estimated
date)
1574 - France begins 5th holy war against Huguenots
1660 - Charles XI becomes king of Sweden
1668 - Fire in Wiener Hofburg in Vienna, emperor Leopold I
rescued
1672 - Joan Blaeus publishers destroyed by fire in Amsterdam
1689 - Dutch prince William III proclaimed king of England
1778 - Baron von Steuben joins Continental Army at Valley
Forge
1792 - Joseph Haydn's 94th Symphony in G, premieres
1792 - Humane Society of Massachusetts incorporated (erected
life-saving stations for distressed mariners)
1804 - Conspirators against Napoleon, for restoration of
Louis XVIII
1813 - 1st US raw cotton-to-cloth mill founded in Waltham,
Mass
1820 - Cato Street conspiracy uncovered
1821 - College of Apothecaries organized in Phil; 1st US
pharmacy college
1822 - Boston is incorporated as a city
1836 - Alamo besieged for 13 days until 6th March by Mexican
army under General Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed
1846 - Polish revolutionaries march on Cracow, but are
defeated
1847 - Battle of Buena Vista Mexico; Zachary Taylor defeats
Mexicans
1854 - Great-Britain & Orange Free state sign Convention
of Bloemfontein
1861 - By popular referendum, Texas becomes 7th state to
secede from US
1861 - Dutch Premier Floris A van Hall resigns
1861 - Pres-elect Lincoln arrives secretly in Wash DC to
take office
1869 - Louisiana governor signs public accommodations law
1870 - Mississippi is readmitted to US
1874 - Mjr Walter Winfield patents game called
"sphairistike" (lawn tennis)
1883 - Alabama becomes 1st US state to enact an antitrust
law
1883 - American Anti-Vivisection Society organized (Phila)
1886 - Aluminum manufacturing process developed
1886 - London Times publishes world's 1st classified ad
1886 - Tsjaikovski's symphony "Manfred," premieres
1887 - Congress grants Seal Rocks to SF
1887 - French/Italian Riviera struck by Earthquake; 2,000
die
1892 - 1st college student government forms at Bryn Mawr
Penn
1894 - Stanley Cup: Montreal AAA's awarded cup by trustees
as Ottawa refuses to travel to Toronto to play
1895 - Jaap Eden skates world record 10km (17:56)
1895 - William Heard, AME minister & educator, named
minister to Liberia
1896 - Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield
1898 - In France, Emile Zola is imprisoned for writing his
"J'accuse" letter accusing government of anti-Semitism & wrongly
jailing Alfred Dreyfus
1900 - Battle at Hart's Hill, South-Africa (Boers vs British
army)
1900 - Steamer "Rio de Janeiro" sinks in SF Bay
1903 - Cuban state of Guantanamo leased to USA
1904 - US acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10
million
1905 - Rotary Club International formed by 4 men in Chicago
1906 - Tommy Burns beats Marvin Hart in 20 for heavyweight
boxing title
Absolute monarch Nicholas IIAbsolute monarch Nicholas II
1909 - Russian Tsar Nicholas II dissolves Finnish Diet
1910 - 1st radio contest held (Philadelphia)
1910 - George Bernard Shaw's "Misalliance,"
premieres in London
1915 - Germany sinks US ships Carib & Evelyn &
torpedoes Norwegian ship Regin
1915 - Nevada enforces convenient divorce law
1916 - Congress authorizes McKinley Memorial $1 gold coin
1916 - French artillery kills entire French 72nd division at
Samogneux Verdun
1917 - February revolution begins in Russia
1918 - First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser's German
troops near Narva and Pskov. Since 1923 this date become the Day of Red Army in
honour of this victory.
1919 - Fascist Party forms in Italy by Benito Mussolini
1921 - 1st US transcontinental air mail flight arrives in
NYC from SF
1923 - German Republic day with laws against worker
1923 - Great Britain lowers import duty on German products
from 26% to 5%
1927 - Pres Calvin Coolidge creates Federal Radio Commission
(FRC)
1934 - Casey Stengel becomes manager of Brooklyn Dodgers
30th US President Calvin Coolidge30th US President Calvin
Coolidge 1934 - Coronation of King Leopold III of Belgium
1936 - 1st rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake, NY
1938 - Joe Louis KOs Nathan Mann in 3 for heavyweight boxing
title
1939 - Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become
wrestling champ
1940 - Russian troops conquer Lasi Island
1940 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio,"
released
1941 - Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr.
Glenn T. Seaborg.
1942 - Japanese sub fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, Calif
1943 - Gen-Maj Bradley arrives in Dakar & Marrakesh
1943 - German troops pull back through Kasserine-pass
Tunisia
1944 - Forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people
to Central Asia.
1945 - 2nd Dutch government of Gerbrandy forms in London
1945 - Canadian troops occupy Kalkar
1945 - Operation Grenade: Gen Simpsons 9th Army crosses Ruhr
1945 - US Marines raise flag on Iwo Jima, famous photo &
statue
1947 - Gen Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170M in aid for
European Jews
1954 - 1st mass inoculation with Salk vaccine (Pittsburgh)
1954 - Syrian army drives out president Adib el-Shishakli
1955 - Edgar Faure forms French government
1956 - 20th Congress of CPSU closes in Moscow
1957 - "Mr Wonderful" closes at Broadway Theater
NYC after 383 performances
1957 - The founding congress of the Senegalese Popular Bloc
is opened in Dakar.
1958 - 5-time world driving champion Juan Fangio kidnapped
by Cuban rebels
1958 - Arturo Frondizi elected president of Argentina
1958 - Last Municipal arc light, Mission & 25th removed
(installed in 1913)
1958 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1959 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1959 - KVIE TV channel 6 in Sacramento-Stockton, CA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1960 - Demolition begins on Brooklyn's Ebbets Field (opened
in 1913)
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 - Charlie Finley signs a 4 year lease to keep A's in
Kansas City
1965 - Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough
president
1966 - Military coup in Syria ends Bitar government
1966 - Premier Obote grabs power in Uganda
1967 - 25th amendment (presidential succession) declared
ratified
1967 - John Herbert's "Fortune & Men's Eyes,"
premieres in NYC
1967 - Ted Workman replaces Senator Keith Davey as CFL
commissioner
1967 - US troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000
points
1969 - Nayif Hawatimah forms Dem People's Front for
Liberation of Palestine
1969 - WWVU (now WNPB) TV channel 24 in Morgantown, WV (PBS)
1st broadcast
1970 - Guyana becomes a republic (National Day)
1970 - Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman
Catholic service
1971 - Boston Bruins begin 13 NHL game win streak
1971 - George Harrison is fined & his driving license is
suspended for 1 year
1971 - Lt Calley confessed & implicates Captain Medina
1973 - Gold goes up $10 overnight to record $95 an ounce in
London
1974 - Teri Garr appears on Bob Newhart Show in
"Confessions of an Orth"
1975 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1975 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving
time commences nearly two months early in the United States.
1976 - Owners announce spring training won't open without a
labor contract
1978 - 20th Grammy Awards: Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac,
Debbie Boone wins
1979 - "Sarava" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater
NYC for 140 performances
1979 - Frank Peterson Jr named 1st black general in Marine
Corps
1979 - George Harrison releases "George Harrison"
album
1980 - 13th Winter Olympic games close at Lake Placid, NY
1980 - Eric Heiden wins all 5 speed skating golds at Lake
Placid Olympics
1980 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1980 - Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes
37-mil-gallon spill
1981 - People mag features drug ordeal of Mackenzie &
Papa John Phillips
1981 - Spanish coup under lt-col Antonio Tejero Molina fails
1982 - Michael Frayn's "Noises Off," premieres in
London
1983 - 25th Grammy Awards: Roxanna, Toto IV, Men at Work
wins
1983 - USFL NJ Generals sign Heisman winner Herschel Walker
(3 years-$5 mil)
1983 - The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González
and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos.
1983 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency
announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community
of Times Beach, Missouri.
1985 - Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight throws a chair
during a game
1985 - US Senate confirms Edwin Meese III as attorney
general
1986 - Despite losing, Red Sox Wade Boggs gets largest
arbitration ($1.35M)
1986 - Mary Beth Zimmerman wins LPGA Standard
Register/Samaritan Golf Classic
1986 - Nelli Fiere-Cooman runs world record 60 m indoor
(7.00 sec)
1987 - Dick Howser retires from managing KC Royals, due to
brain tumor
1987 - Russian Writers Union accepts Boris Pasternak
posthumous as member
1987 - Supernova 1987A in LMC 1st seen; 1st naked-eye
supernova since 1604
1988 - Chicago gives Cubs right to install lights & play
up to 18 night games
1988 - Yvonne van Gennip skates female record 3k (4:11.94)
1990 - Ian Smith 173* NZ v India, 136 balls, world record
for no 9 bat
1991 - Greg Haugen scores a split decision over Hector
"Macho" Camacho
1991 - Military coup in Thailand, Premier Choonhaven
arrested
1991 - NC is 1st NCAA basketball team to win 1,500 games
1991 - Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Orix Hawaiian Ladies Golf
Open
1991 - US insists Iraq publicly announce it is leaving
Kuwait by 12 PM EST
1992 - 16th Winter Olympic games closes in Albertville,
France
1992 - Andy Flower scores 115* on ODI debut, Zimbabwe v Sri
Lanka
1992 - World Cup scoreline Zimbabwe 4-312, Sri Lanka 7-313
1992 - The Socialist Labour Party is founded in Georgia.
1993 - Gary Coleman wins $1,280,000 lawsuit against parents
for high fees
1993 - India complete a 3-0 series drubbing of England
1993 - Sacramento Gold Miners admitted as CFL's 9th
franchise (1st US team)
1994 - Indians owner Richard Jacobs announces he will pay
$10 million to name baseball field (Jacobs Field) at Gateway (becomes official
3/23)
1995 - "Uncle Vanya" opens at Circle in Sq Theater
NYC for 29 performances
1995 - Antoine Nduwayo appointed Premier of Burundi
1995 - Dow Jones closes above 4,000 for 1st time (4,003.33)
1996 - Mark Waugh scores 130 in World Cup vs Kenya, 207
w/brother Steve
1996 - Rajindra Dhanraj takes 9-97 for Trinidad against
Leeward Islands
1997 - Ali Abu Kamal opens fire in Empire State Building
& kills 1
1997 - American Express Senior Golf Invitational
1997 - Jeff Sluman wins Tucson Golf Classic
1997 - NBC TV shows "Schindler's List," completely
uncensored, 65M watch
1997 - Tucson Chrysler Golf Classic
1997 - Scientists in Scotland announced they succeeded in
cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly"
1998 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Charleston SC on
WAVF 96.1 FM
1998 - Supreme Court lets Megan's Law stand
1998 - Tornadoes in Florida kills at least 31
Islamic Militant & Terrorist Osama bin LadenIslamic
Militant & Terrorist Osama bin Laden 1998 - Osama bin Laden publishes a
fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.
1999 - Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with
treason in Ankara, Turkey.
1999 - An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür,
killing 31.
1999 - Hip Hop artist Eminem releases his first major record
album 'The Slim Shady LP' (Grammy 2000 - Rap album)
2000 - 42nd Grammy Awards: Smooth, Christina Aguilera wins
2003 - 45th Grammy Awards: Don't Know Why, Norah Jones wins
2005 - Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first
occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; George W. Bush and
Vladimir Putin are in attendance.
2005 - Vote of the controversial French law on colonialism,
repealed start of 2006.
2006 - Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to
take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh
bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
2007 - Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up
its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
2007 - A 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.
2008 - a B-2 Spirit of the USAF crashes at Guam. The crew
survived but the aircraft was written off, making it the most expensive air
crash in human history (the aircraft alone cost $1.2Bn). The B-2 had a perfect
safety record before the crash; not one B-2 ever crashed.
2010 - Unknown 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.
2012 - A series of bomb attacks across 12 Iraqi cities kills
60 and injures 200
2013 - 51 people are killed and 62 are injured in conflict
between rival tribes in Darfur, Sudan
2013 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 wins worst picture at the
33rd Golden Raspberry Awards1574 - France began the 5th holy war against the Huguenots. 1660 - Charles XI became the king of Sweden. 1792 - The Humane Society of Massachusetts was incorporated. 1813 - The first U.S. raw cotton-to-cloth mill was founded in Waltham, MA. 1820 - The Cato Street conspiracy was uncovered. 1821 - The Philadelphia College of Apothecaries established the first pharmacy college. 1822 - Boston was incorporated as a city. 1836 - In San Antonio, TX, the siege of the Alamo began. 1839 - In Boston, MA, William F. Harnden organized the first express service between Boston and New York City. It was the first express service in the U.S. 1847 - Santa Anna was defeated at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico by U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary. 1861 - U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take his office after an assassination attempt in Baltimore. 1861 - Texas became the 7th state to secede from the Union. 1870 - The state of Mississippi was readmitted to the Union. 1874 - Walter Winfield patented a game called "sphairistike." More widely known as lawn tennis. 1875 - J. Palisa discovered asteroid #143 (aka Adria). 1883 - Alabama became the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law. 1886 - Charles M. Hall completed his invention of aluminum. 1887 - The French/Italian Riviera was hit by an earthquake that killed about 2,000. 1896 - The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield. 1898 - In France, Emile Zola was imprisoned for his letter, "J'accuse," which accused the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus. 1900 - The Battle of Hart's Hill took place in South Africa between the Boers and the British army. 1904 - The U.S. acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million. 1905 - The Rotary Club was founded in Chicago, IL, by Attorney Paul Harris and three others. 1910 - In Philadelphia, PA, the first radio contest was held. 1915 - Nevada began enforcing convenient divorce law. 1916 - The U.S. Congress authorizes the McKinley Memorial $1 gold coin. 1919 - The Fascist Party was formed in Italy by Benito Mussolini. 1927 - The Federal Radio Commission began assigning frequencies, hours of operation and power allocations for radio broadcasters. On July 1, 1934 the name was changed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 1932 - Robert Short became the first American to die in an arial battle with the Japanese. (more info) 1940 - Russian troops conquered Lasi Island. 1940 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio" was released. 1945 - The 28th Regiment of the Fifth Marine Division of the U.S. Marines reached the top of Mount Surabachi. A photograph of these Marines raising the American flag was taken. 1954 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh, PA. 1955 - The French government was formed by Edgar Faure. 1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NFL operations did fall within coverage of antitrust laws. 1958 - Juan Fangio, 5-time world diving champion, was kidnapped by Cuban rebels. 1963 - The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. 1966 - The Bitar government in Syria was ended with a military coup. 1967 - Jim Ryun set a record in the half-mile run when ran it in 1:48.3. 1968 - Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia 76ers) became the first player to score 25,000 career points in the NBA. 1970 - Guyana became a republic. 1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demanded $4 million more for the release of Patty Hearst. Hearst had been kidnapped on February 4th. 1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran's new parliament would have to decide the fate of the hostages taken on November 4, 1979, at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. 1985 - The TV show "Gimme a Break" was broadcast live before a studio audience. It was the first TV sitcom to be seen live since the 1950s. 1991 - During the Persian Gulf War, ground forces crossed the border of Saudi Arabia into the country of Iraq. Less than four days later the war was over due to the surrender or withdraw of Iraqi forces. 1993 - Gary Coleman won a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents. 1995 - The Dow Jones Industrial closed about 4,000 for the first time at 4,003.33. 1997 - NBC-TV aired "Schindler's List." It was completely uncensored. 1997 - Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, a Palestinian teacher, opened fire on the 86th-floor observation deck of New York City's Empire State Building. He killed one person and wounded six more before killing himself. 1998 - In central Florida, tornadoes killed 42 people and damaged and/or destroyed about 2,600 homes and businesses. 1999 - In Ankara, Turkey, Abdullah Ocalan was charged with treason. The prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for the Kurdish rebel leader. 1999 - White supremacist John William King was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering James Byrd Jr. Byrd was dragged behind a truck for two miles on a country road in Texas. 2000 - Robby Knievel made a successful motorcycle jump of 200 feet over an oncoming train. 2005 - The New York, NY, city medical examiner's office annouced that it had exhausted all efforts to identify the remains of the people killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, due to the limits of DNA technology. About 1,600 people had been identified leaving more than 1,100 unidentified.
1821 John Keats, English Romantic poet, died. 1836 Mexican general Santa Anna began the siege of the Alamo. 1896 The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield. 1898 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 Captain Alfred Dreyfus. 1942 The first Axis shelling of U.S. soil took place near Santa Barbara, Calif. 1945 U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. 1997 Scottish scientists announced the successful cloning of a sheep, Dolly. 2011 The Obama Administration determines that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb23.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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