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 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 312 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 10, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 474,624 hours 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 341 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 4,081 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 23 Historical Events

• 303 –
  Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
• 1821 –
  Alexander Ypsilantis starts the Greek War of Independence in Iași, Wallachia, modern-day Romania.
• 1848 –
  The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
• 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.
• 1900 –
  In South Africa, Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart’s Hill.
• 1927 –
  German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
• 1941 –
  Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
• 1945 –
  World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
• 1958 –
  Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
• 1991 –
  In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.

Who were born on February 23?

• 1899 –
  Norman Taurog, American film director (d. 1981)
• 1915 –
  Paul Tibbets, US Air Force retired Brigadier General and pilot of B-29 “Enola Gay” over Hiroshima (d. 2007)
• 1918 –
  Richard G. Butler, founder of Aryan Nations (d. 2004)
• 1932 –
  Majel Barrett, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1937 –
  Tom Osborne, American football coach and politician
• 1938 –
  Paul Morrissey, American film director
• 1961 –
  Kelly Hansen, American drummer (Summer Lights)
• 1970 –
  Marie-Josée Croze, Canadian actress
• 1982 –
  Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor
• 1986 –
  Jerod Mayo, American football player

Who died on February 23?

• 1464 –
  Zhengtong, Emperor of China (b. 1427)
• 1669 –
  Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (b. 1600)
• 1908 –
  Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (b. 1823)
• 1922 –
  Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
• 1957 –
  Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
• 1970 –
  Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (b. 1904)
• 1976 –
  L. S. Lowry, English artist (b. 1887)
• 2004 –
  Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 2004 –
  Neil Ardley, English jazz pianist and composer (b. 1937)
• 2006 –
  Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)