This is Tuesday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2016. There are 312 days left in the year.
Highlights in history on this date:
1573 – Irish rebellion is crushed with surrender of James Fitzmaurice; pacification of Perth ends fighting in Scotland between Regent and supporters of Mary Queen of Scots.
1574 – Fifth War of Religion breaks out in France.
1660 – Sweden’s King Charles IX executes leaders of pro-Polish party for treason.
1820 – Cato Street conspiracy to murder British cabinet minister is discovered.
1836 – Siege of the Alamo begins in future U.S. state of Texas against Mexicans.
1854 – Britain agrees to leave territory north of Orange River in South Africa, allowing for establishment of constitution for Orange Free State.
1861 – U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington to take office after an assassination plot is foiled in Baltimore.
1901 – Britain and Germany agree on boundary between German East Africa and Nyasaland.
1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.
1933 – Japan begins occupation of China north of the Great Wall.
1934 – Nicaraguan rebel leader Cesar Augusto Sandino, invited to meet with army leader and later dictator Anastasio Somoza, is abducted and murdered.
1938 – First oil discovery in Kuwait.
1942 – Japanese submarine shells oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.
1945 – U.S. Marines plant flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, but it will be another three weeks until all Japanese defenders on the island are defeated.
1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1964 – Britain recognizes President Abdul Amari Karume’s regime in Zanzibar, renamed Tanzania.
1975 – U.S. decision to end arms embargo against Pakistan draws wrath of India, which cancels planned March meeting in Washington.
1990 – Prince Sihanouk returns to Cambodia after 11 years in exile.
1991 – Military junta seizes power in Thailand after a bloodless coup.
1996 – Two sons-in-law of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are killed by clan members after returning to the country after defecting.
1998 – Leftist guerrillas set off a mine in India, killing five soldiers sent to guard polling stations and raising the death toll related to parliamentary elections to 29.
1999 – The first peace talks between Kosovo Albanians and Yugoslavia end in Rambouillet, France, without much progress toward a settlement. NATO suspends its threat of bombing till the talks resume March 15.
2002 – Colombia’s President Andres Pastrana returns to a spot in former rebel territory where he began a tortuous peace process three years ago and blames the guerrillas for sabotaging the talks to end Colombia’s 38-year war.
2007 – Forty-six countries sign a declaration in Oslo pushing for a global ban on cluster bombs, a move activists hailed as a major step forward despite opposition from the U.S., Russia, Israel and China.
2009 – The first Guantanamo detainee released since President Barrack Obama took office returns to Britain, saying his seven years in captivity were a nightmare.
2010 – Darfur’s most powerful rebel group and the Sudanese government sign a truce after a year of internationally sponsored negotiations, raising hopes the bloody seven-year conflict could draw to a close.
2012 – U.N.-appointed investigators in Geneva say they have compiled a list of Syrian officials accused of crimes against humanity that reaches as high as President Bashar Assad.
2013 – Tens of thousands of people march to protest austerity measures introduced by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a bid to reduce the deficit, ease market pressures on government borrowing and try to avoid a full financial bailout.
2015 — At least five drones fly over the Eiffel Tower, the U.S. Embassy and other Paris landmarks, the most audacious of several mysterious drone flights around France in recent months. Authorities are investigating.
Today’s Birthdays:
George Frederick Handel, German composer (1685-1759); Sir George Frederick Watts, English artist (1817-1904); Constantine Caramanlis, Greek president (1907-1998); Peter Fonda, U.S. actor/director (1940–); Brad Whitford, guitarist for Aerosmith (1952–); Howard Jones, British singer (1955–); Kristin Davis, U.S. actress (1965–).
Thought For Today:
Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to his parents — Abraham Lincoln (1809-65).
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