23rd February
Posted: 23 Feb 2015, 06:541455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle, by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.
1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
1905 – Chicago, Illinois attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
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.
Births
1633 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (d. 1703)
1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English composer (d. 1759)
1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz London Hotel and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)
1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)
1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)
1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author
1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress (The Nolans)
Deaths
1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
1925 – Samuel Berger, American boxer (b. 1884)
1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano (b. 1861)
1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)
1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and director (b. 1890)
1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)
1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)
2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle, by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.
1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
1905 – Chicago, Illinois attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
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.
Births
1633 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (d. 1703)
1685 – George Frideric Handel, German-English composer (d. 1759)
1850 – César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz London Hotel and Hôtel Ritz Paris (d. 1918)
1892 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (d. 1995)
1904 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (d. 1993)
1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author
1959 – Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress (The Nolans)
Deaths
1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
1925 – Samuel Berger, American boxer (b. 1884)
1931 – Nellie Melba, Australian soprano (b. 1861)
1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer and academic (b. 1857)
1965 – Stan Laurel, English actor and director (b. 1890)
1976 – L. S. Lowry, English painter (b. 1887)
1995 – James Herriot, English veterinarian and author (b. 1916)
2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)