On This Day
What Happened on February 23 in History
9 events that happened on February 23, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
Colonial America and the Revolution
1778
Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge to help train the Continental Army.
The Prussian officer drilled Washington's soldiers in marching, maneuvers and bayonet use. His training helped turn the army into a more disciplined fighting force.
Source: history.com; nps.gov
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1836
Mexican troops under Santa Anna arrived in San Antonio and began the siege of the Alamo.
William Travis and his small garrison withdrew into the old mission compound. The siege lasted 13 days and ended with the fall of the Alamo on March 6.
Source: history.com
1868
W. E. B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Du Bois became a leading scholar, writer and civil rights activist. He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and helped found the NAACP.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1903
The Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on shipping lottery tickets between states in Champion v. Ames.
In a 5 to 4 decision, the justices ruled that Congress could use its power over interstate commerce to outlaw the trade. The case widened the reach of federal regulatory power.
Source: law.cornell.edu; millercenter.org
1942
A Japanese submarine shelled the Ellwood oil field near Santa Barbara, California.
The attack did little damage, but it was the first enemy shelling of the U.S. mainland in World War II. It fed fears of a Japanese invasion along the West Coast.
Source: nps.gov; history.com
1945
U.S. Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
A second, larger flag raised later that day was captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal. His image became one of the most famous photographs of World War II and the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial.
Source: history.com
The Cold War
1954
Children in Pittsburgh received the first mass injections of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.
Pupils at Arsenal Elementary School were the first to take part in a mass inoculation program. A nationwide field trial followed, and the vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
The Modern Era
2019
Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 cargo jet, crashed into Trinity Bay near Houston, Texas.
All three people aboard were killed as the plane descended toward George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Investigators found that the plane was forced into a steep dive seconds after its go-around mode was unintentionally activated.
Source: ntsb.gov
2020
Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while jogging near Brunswick, Georgia.
The 25-year-old Black man was pursued and killed by three white men. A video released months later led to murder convictions and federal hate crime convictions.
Source: history.com