This Day in History
23 Feb 1574
France begins 5th holy war against Huguenots
23 Feb 1668
Fire in the Hofburg in Vienna Emperor Leopold I rescued
23 Feb 1672
Joan Blaeus publishers destroyed by fire in Amsterdam
23 Feb 1689
Dutch prince William III proclaimed King of England
More History
Spanish rebels storm Parliament
In Spain Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero and 200 members of the civil guard burst into the Cortes Spains legislature building in Madrid firing sho...
Children receive first polio vaccine
On this day in 1954 a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania receive the first injections of the new polio vaccine devel...
U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima
During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon E Company 2nd Battalion 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of Mount Su...
South Vietnamese advance stalls
In Operation Lam Son 719 the South Vietnamese advance into Laos grinds to a halt.The operation began on February 8. It included a limited incursion by South V...
Desertion up in South Vietnamese army
According to the U.S. military headquarters in Saigon 90000 South Vietnamese deserted in 1965. This number was almost 14 percent of total South Vietnamese ar...
Eric Heiden speed skates into Olympic history
On this day in 1980 speed skater Eric Heiden wins the 10000-meter race at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid New York setting a world record with his time a...
Lincoln avoids assassination attempt
On this day in 1861 Abraham Lincoln and his entourage show up unexpectedly at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. foiling a Baltimore plot against his life....
Guthrie writes This Land is Your Land
Folk singer Woody Guthrie writes one of his best-known songs This Land is Your Land.Born in Okemah Oklahoma in 1912 Guthrie lived and wrote of...
W.E.B. DuBois is born
On this day in 1868 William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) DuBois is born in Great Barrington Massachusetts. A brilliant scholar DuBois was an influential propone...
Schindler’s List shown uncut on network television
On this day in 1997 an estimated 65 million people tune in to watch all or part of Steven Spielbergs Oscar-winning Holocaust drama Schindlers L...
Earthquake strikes Mediterranean
On this day in 1887 an earthquake off the Mediterranean coast of southern France and northern Italy destroys villages and kills more than 2000 people. At the ...
A remarkable reprieve for a man sent to the gallows
On this day in 1885 a 19-year-old man named John Lee is sent to the gallows in Exeter England for the murder of Ellen Keyse a rich older woman for whom he h...
First council meeting of SEATO
In the first council meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declares the United States is committed to defendi...
Lincoln arrives in Washington
On this day in 1861 President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives in Washington D.C.amid secrecy and tight security. With seven states having already seceded from ...
Formula One champ kidnapped
On this day in 1958 five-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina is kidnapped in Cuba by a group of Fidel Castros rebels.Fangio was t...
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