History for February 23

History for February 23 - On-This-Day.com
Samuel Pepys 1633 - English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, known for his diary of events and quotes, George Frederic Handel 1685 - Composer, Mayer Amschel Rothschild 1734 


W.E.B. DuBois 1868, William Shirer 1904 - Jornalist, author ("The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", "Ghandi: A Memoir"), Peter Fonda 1940 - Director, actor ("Easy Rider"), Jane Fonda's brother, Henry Fonda's son, Bridget Fonda's dad 


1574 - France began the 5th holy war against the Huguenots. 


1813 - The first U.S. raw cotton-to-cloth mill was founded in Waltham, MA. 


1836 - In San Antonio, TX, the siege of the Alamo began. 


1847 - Santa Anna was defeated at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico by U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary. 


1886 - Charles M. Hall completed his invention of aluminum. 


1896 - The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield. 


1898 - In France, Emile Zola was imprisoned for his letter, "J'accuse," which accused the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus. 


1904 - The U.S. acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million. 


1919 - The Fascist Party was formed in Italy by Benito Mussolini. 

1927 - The Federal Radio Commission began assigning frequencies, hours of operation and power allocations for radio broadcasters. On July 1, 1934 the name was changed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 


1940 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio" was released. 


1954 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh, PA. 


1958 - Juan Fangio, 5-time world diving champion, was kidnapped by Cuban rebels.