February 23
1685 - Composer George Frideric Handel was born in present-day Germany.
1822 - Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836 - Mexican general Santa Anna began the siege of the Alamo.
1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.
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 Captain 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 Axis shelling of U.S. soil during World War II took place near Santa Barbara, California as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery, causing little damage.
1945 - U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima, the event was captured in one of the most iconic images of World War II.
1954 - The first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
1998 - A deadly tornado outbreak in central Florida killed 42 people and destroyed more than 2,600 homes and businesses.
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 - In a major policy reversal, 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 - Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on a residential Georgia street; a white father and son had armed themselves and pursued him after seeing him running through their neighborhood. (Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan were convicted of murder, aggravated assault and other charges and were sentenced to life in prison.)
2023 - A federal judge handed singer R. Kelly a 20-year prison sentence for his convictions of child pornography and the enticement of minors for sex but said he would serve nearly all of the sentence simultaneously with a 30-year sentence imposed a year earlier on racketeering charges.
Birthdays
22 - Emilia Jones (actress)
30 - Dakota Fanning (actress)
32 - Samara Weaving (actress)
37 - Sarah Urie (actress)
38 - Tye White (actor)
41 - Aziz Ansari (actor)
41 - Emily Blunt (actress)
43 - Josh Gad (actor)
48 - Kelly Macdonald (actress)
52 - Steve Holy (singer)
54 - Niecy Nash (actress)
56 - Marc Price (actor)
59 - Kristin Davis (actress)
69 - Howard Jones (singer)
73 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones (football player)
73 - Patricia Richardson (actress)
81 - Fred Biletnikoff (football player)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - February 23
1874 - Walter Winfield patented a game called "sphairistike." More widely known as lawn tennis.
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NFL operations did fall within coverage of antitrust laws.
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain, of the Philadelphia 76ers, became the first player to score 25,000 career points in the NBA.
1983 - Herschel Walker signed a $5 million 3-year contract with the USFL's New Jersey Generals.
1987 - Nate McMillan (Seattle Supersonics) set an NBA record when he had 25 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
1999 - Country music superstar Garth Brooks attended spring training camp with the San Diego Padres as a non-roster player.
2021 - Golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured when his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles.
1685 - Composer George Frideric Handel was born in present-day Germany.
1822 - Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.
1836 - Mexican general Santa Anna began the siege of the Alamo.
1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.
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 Captain 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 Axis shelling of U.S. soil during World War II took place near Santa Barbara, California as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery, causing little damage.
1945 - U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Iwo Jima, the event was captured in one of the most iconic images of World War II.
1954 - The first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.
1998 - A deadly tornado outbreak in central Florida killed 42 people and destroyed more than 2,600 homes and businesses.
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 - In a major policy reversal, 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 - Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on a residential Georgia street; a white father and son had armed themselves and pursued him after seeing him running through their neighborhood. (Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan were convicted of murder, aggravated assault and other charges and were sentenced to life in prison.)
2023 - A federal judge handed singer R. Kelly a 20-year prison sentence for his convictions of child pornography and the enticement of minors for sex but said he would serve nearly all of the sentence simultaneously with a 30-year sentence imposed a year earlier on racketeering charges.
Birthdays
22 - Emilia Jones (actress)
30 - Dakota Fanning (actress)
32 - Samara Weaving (actress)
37 - Sarah Urie (actress)
38 - Tye White (actor)
41 - Aziz Ansari (actor)
41 - Emily Blunt (actress)
43 - Josh Gad (actor)
48 - Kelly Macdonald (actress)
52 - Steve Holy (singer)
54 - Niecy Nash (actress)
56 - Marc Price (actor)
59 - Kristin Davis (actress)
69 - Howard Jones (singer)
73 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones (football player)
73 - Patricia Richardson (actress)
81 - Fred Biletnikoff (football player)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - February 23
1874 - Walter Winfield patented a game called "sphairistike." More widely known as lawn tennis.
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NFL operations did fall within coverage of antitrust laws.
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain, of the Philadelphia 76ers, became the first player to score 25,000 career points in the NBA.
1983 - Herschel Walker signed a $5 million 3-year contract with the USFL's New Jersey Generals.
1987 - Nate McMillan (Seattle Supersonics) set an NBA record when he had 25 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
1999 - Country music superstar Garth Brooks attended spring training camp with the San Diego Padres as a non-roster player.
2021 - Golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured when his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles.
