February 23

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY ~ FEBRUARY 23

1927 - Pres Calvin Coolidge creates Federal Radio Commission (FCC)
1934 - Casey Stengel becomes manager of Brooklyn Dodgers
1934 - Coronation of King Leopold III of Belgium
1936 - 1st rocket air mail flight, Greenwood Lake, NY
1938 - Joe Louis KOs Nathan Mann in 3 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 - Lou Thesz beats E Marshall in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
1940 - Russian troops conquer Lasi Island
1940 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio," released

1941 - Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
1942 - Japanese sub fires on oil refinery in Ellwood, Calif
1943 - Gen-Maj Bradley arrives in Dakar & Marrakesh
1943 - German troops pull back through Kasserine-pass Tunisia
1944 - Forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people to Central Asia.
1945 - 2nd Dutch government of Gerbrandy forms in London
1945 - Canadian troops occupy Kalkar
1945 - Operation Grenade: Gen Simpsons 9th Army crosses Ruhr
1945 - US Marines raise flag on Iwo Jima, famous photo & statue

1947 - Gen Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170M in aid for European Jews
1954 - 1st mass inoculation with Salk vaccine (Pittsburgh)
1954 - Syrian army drives out president Adib el-Shishakli
1955 - Edgar Faure forms French government
1956 - 20th Congress of CPSU closes in Moscow
1956 - Russian party leader Khrushchev attacks memory of Stalin
1957 - "Mr Wonderful" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 383 performances
1957 - The founding congress of the Senegalese Popular Bloc is opened in Dakar.
1958 - 5-time world driving champion Juan Fangio kidnapped by Cuban rebels
1958 - Arturo Frondizi elected president of Argentina
1958 - Last Municipal arc light, Mission & 25th removed (installed in 1913)
1958 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1959 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1959 - KVIE TV channel 6 in Sacramento-Stockton, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 - Demolition begins on Brooklyn's Ebbets Field (opened in 1913)
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 - Charlie Finley signs a 4 year lease to keep A's in Kansas City
1965 - Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president

1965 - Stan Laurel, comedian (Laurel & Hardy), dies of heart attack at 74

1966 - Aldo Moro forms Italian government
1966 - Military coup in Syria ends Bitar government
1966 - Premier Obote grabs power in Uganda
1967 - 25th amendment (presidential succession) declared ratified
1967 - John Herbert's "Fortune & Men's Eyes," premieres in NYC
1967 - Ted Workman replaces Senator Keith Davey as CFL commissioner
1967 - US troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War
1968 - Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points
1969 - Nayif Hawatimah forms Dem People's Front for Liberation of Palestine
1969 - WWVU (now WNPB) TV channel 24 in Morgantown, WV (PBS) 1st broadcast
1970 - Guyana becomes a republic (National Day)
1970 - Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman Catholic service
1971 - Boston Bruins begin 13 NHL game win streak
1971 - George Harrison is fined & his driving license is suspended for 1 year
1971 - Lt Calley confessed & implicates Captain Medina
1973 - Gold goes up $10 overnight to record $95 an ounce in London
1974 - Patty Hearst, daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by SLA

1974 - Teri Garr appears on Bob Newhart Show in "Confessions of an Orth"
1975 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1975 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States.
1976 - Owners announce spring training won't open without a labor contract
1978 - 20th Grammy Awards: Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac, Debbie Boone wins
1979 - "Sarava" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 140 performances
1979 - Frank Peterson Jr named 1st black general in Marine Corps
1979 - George Harrison releases "George Harrison" album
1980 - 13th Winter Olympic games close at Lake Placid, NY
1980 - Eric Heiden wins all 5 speed skating golds at Lake Placid Olympics
1980 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1980 - Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-mil-gallon spill
1981 - People mag features drug ordeal of Mackenzie & Papa John Phillips
1981 - Spanish coup under lt-col Antonio Tejero Molina fails
1982 - Michael Frayn's "Noises Off," premieres in London
1983 - 25th Grammy Awards: Roxanna, Toto IV, Men at Work wins
1983 - USFL NJ Generals sign Heisman winner Herschel Walker (3 years-$5 mil)
1983 - The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos.
1983 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
1985 - Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight throws a chair during a game
1985 - US Senate confirms Edwin Meese III as attorney general
1986 - Despite losing, Red Sox Wade Boggs gets largest arbitration ($1.35M)
1986 - Mary Beth Zimmerman wins LPGA Standard Register/Samaritan Golf Classic
1986 - Nelli Fiere-Cooman runs world record 60 m indoor (7.00 sec)