February 23
Today in America's Present Past
1729 | Politician Josiah Hornblower was born.
1778 | War of Independence: Baron von Steuben joined the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This was a turning point. The Prussian officer’s training transformed a ragtag group of volunteers into a professional fighting force by implementing standardized drills and camp sanitation.
1781 | Founder George Taylor died.
1787 | Activist Emma Willard was born.
1821 | First American pharmacy college opened as the College of Apothecaries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1836 | The Battle of the Alamo started. Mexican General Santa Anna arrived in San Antonio, initiating a 13-day siege against roughly 180-250 defenders.
1847 | Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista. General Zachary Taylor’s outnumbered force defeated Santa Anna’s army. Taylor’s victory made him a national hero and set him on the path to the presidency.
1848 | POTUS: President John Quincy Adams died.
1861 | POTUS: Agents foiled an assignation plot in Maryland, against President-elect Abraham Lincoln. Allan Pinkerton smuggled Lincoln through Baltimore in the middle of the night, an event that led to early critics mocking Lincoln for “skulking” into the capital.
1868 | Activist W.E.B. Du Bois was born.
1870 | Statehood: Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1883 | The first anti-trust law was enacted in Alabama.
1889 | Film director Victor Fleming was born.
1892 | The first collegiate student government body formed at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
1896 | Entrepreneur Leo Hirshfield introduced the “Tootsie Roll.”
1903 | Cuba and the U.S. signed an agreement providing America with Guantanamo Bay.
1904 | Journalist William L. Shirer was born.
1904 | The U.S. purchased control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.
1905 | The first Rotary Club was formed. Attorney Paul P. Harris held the first meeting in Chicago. The name “Rotary” came from the early practice of rotating meeting locations.
1915 | “Enola Gay” pilot Paul Tibbets was born.
1927 | POTUS: Republican President Coolidge signed the Radio Act. This established the Federal Radio Commission (the precursor to the FCC), asserting that the “airwaves” were public property and required federal licensing to prevent interference.
1928 | Entrepreneur and philanthropist Russell G. Mawby was born in Kent County, Michigan.
1942 | WWII: Japanese submarines attacked Ellwood, California. This was the first shelling of the American mainland during WWII. A Japanese submarine (I-17) fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, fueling the “Great Los Angeles Air Raid” fears the following night.
1945 | WWII: US forces raise a flag atop Mount Sribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
1945 | WWII: U.S. forces liberated Manila, ending three years of Japanese occupation.
1954 | First mass inoculation against polio occurred at Arsenal Elementary School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1957 | Physician John Friend Mahoney died.
1965 | Entrepreneur Michael Dell was born.
1967 | The 25th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted.
1975 | In response to an energy crisis, the U.S. implemented daylight savings two months early.
1979 | Civil Rights: The first African-American General promoted in the USMC, Frank Peterson, Jr.
1983 | Actor Aziz Ansari was born.
1985 | Hosier basketball coach Bobby Knight threw a chair on the court mid-game. This occurred during an Indiana vs. Purdue game.
1991 | Gulf War: Republican President Bush gave Iraq 24 hours to withdraw from Kuwait.