What are the important events that happened on February 23? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 23: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 23 is the 54^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 311 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 10, 2025 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,004,480 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘pentacontatetragon’ day.

Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 359 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,447 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 23 Historical Events

• 1854 –
  The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
• 1898 –
  Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing “J'accuse”, a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
• 1941 –
  Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
• 1944 –
  The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
• 1945 –
  World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed in a raid by 379 British bombers.
• 1954 –
  The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
• 1955 –
  First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
• 1991 –
  Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
• 1999 –
  Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
• 2007 –
  A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.

Who were born on February 23?

• 1646 –
  Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (d. 1709)
• 1723 –
  Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
• 1729 –
  Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (d. 1809)
• 1923 –
  Mary Francis Shura, American writer (d. 1991)
• 1960 –
  Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
• 1971 –
  Jeong Chan, South Korean actor
• 1974 –
  Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
• 1977 –
  Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian cross-country skier
• 1982 –
  Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor
• 1982 –
  Malia Metella, French swimmer

Who died on February 23?

• 1011 –
  Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz (b. 940)
• 1270 –
  Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
• 1766 –
  Stanisław I Leszczyński, King of Poland (b. 1677)
• 1897 –
  Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
• 1931 –
  Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera soprano (b. 1861)
• 1955 –
  Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
• 2000 –
  Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
• 2001 –
  Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2003 –
  Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
• 2004 –
  Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)