Historical Events on February 23
- 1778: During the American Revolutionary War, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania in order to train Continental Army forces.
- 1836: The Siege of the Alamo begins during the Texas Revolution. This would set the state for the Battle of the Alamo – which would take place on March 6th, 1836.
- 1847: American forces led by General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican forces led by Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican American War.
- 1861: After and assassination plot is defeated in Baltimore, Maryland, President-elect Abraham Lincoln secretly arrives in Washington, D.C.
- 1883: The first United State anti-trust law is enacted in Alabama.
- 1927: After the U.S Congress passes a bill that established the Federal Radio Commission, United States’ President Calvin Coolidge signs it.
- 1941: Glenn T. Seaborg isolates and produces plutonium for the first time.
- 1942: Japanese submarines begin the Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II when they fire artillery shells at a U.S oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.
- 1945: At the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII, U.S Marines and a U.S Navy corpsman ascend the top of Mount Suribachi and are photographed raising the American flag.
- 1945: American and Filipino forces liberate Manila in the Philippines.
- 1954: In Pittsburgh, the first mass inoculations of children with the Salk vaccine to protect them against Polio begins on this day.
Famous Birthdays on February 23
- American activist, writer and historian, W. E. B. Du Bois is born in 1868.
- American director and cinematographer, Victor Fleming is born in 1889.
- American actor and director, Jon Hall is born in 1915.
- South-African physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Allan McLeod Cormack is born in 1924.
- American actor, screenwriter, director and producer, Peter Fonda is born in 1940.
- English actress Emily Blunt is born in 1983.
- American singer-songwriter Skylar Grey is born in 1986.
- American actress Dakota Fanning is born in 1994.