1455 The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed using mass-produced movable type. The traditional date for its publication was February 23, 1455. 42 lines were printed on each of the 1,242 pages in a gothic typeface which was as near as its German inventor, Johannes Gutenberg could get to the handwriting of the day. It was printed on paper made from cloth, rags and vellum.
1633 Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
1685 George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
1739 The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered on February 23, 1739. He was discovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognized his ex pupil's handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest.
1792 The English portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds died on February 23, 1792 at his house in Leicester Fields in London between eight and nine in the evening. His last words were "I know that all things on earth must have an end and now I am come to mine." Reynolds was buried at St Paul's Cathedral with much ceremony.
1821 Trained as a doctor, the English poet John Keats' medical knowledge meant he recognized straight away his tuberculosis condition. he arrived in Rome in November 1820 with his devoted friend, the portrait artist Joseph Severn, hoping the warmer climate would help his ailing health, but he suffered a violent relapse a month later. On the poet's deathbed, Joseph Severn played Haydn's sonatas on a hired pianoforte to the ailing poet. John Keats died on February 23, 1821.
1821 Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Empire for a period of 400 years. The traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence is March 25, 1821, though the war actually began February 23, 1821. The country's sovereignty and full independence from the Ottoman Empire was confirmed in a London Protocol on February 3, 1830, as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
1836 The Alamo Franciscan mission and fortress compound was built in San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio), Texas in 1718. It was authorized by the viceroy of Mexico to be an educational center for local Indians who convert to Christianity. During the War of Texan Independence from Mexico, 4,000 Mexican troops launched an assault on the Alamo Mission on February 23, 1836. Just about all of the Texian defenders were killed during the 13 day siege.
1846 William Horlick, the original patent holder of malted milk, was born in the English village of Ruardean on February 23, 1846. Horlick emigrated from Ruardean to the US in 1869 and was later joined by his pharmacist brother James. By the early 1880s they had developed and patented a method for mixing malted barley and wheat with whole milk and turning it into a powder by evaporation. In 1887 the Horlicks brothers' drink was trademarked as "malted milk."
1848 John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, died on February 23, 1848. Two days previously, he'd had a stroke on the floor of the US House. Adams was carried to the Speaker’s Room where he passed away. John Quincy Adams and his father John Adams are buried together in a basement crypt in Quincy, Massachusetts.
1873 In 1873 Major Walter Wingfield created an outdoor game he called "Sphairistike." Major Walter Wingfield was at heart a salesman and a promoter. The retired British army officer drew up a set of rules and, on February 23, 1874, patented his 'sphairistrike' game, which mixed elements of racquets, badminton, and court tennis. Between July 1874 and June 1875, 1,050 of his 'sphairistrike' sets were sold. The game survives to this day as lawn tennis, from the French "tenez."
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| Gutenberg Bible of the New York Public Library. By NYC Wanderer (Kevin Eng) |
1633 Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
1685 George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
1739 The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered on February 23, 1739. He was discovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognized his ex pupil's handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest.
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| The murder of Thomas Morris at Epping Forest |
1792 The English portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds died on February 23, 1792 at his house in Leicester Fields in London between eight and nine in the evening. His last words were "I know that all things on earth must have an end and now I am come to mine." Reynolds was buried at St Paul's Cathedral with much ceremony.
1821 Trained as a doctor, the English poet John Keats' medical knowledge meant he recognized straight away his tuberculosis condition. he arrived in Rome in November 1820 with his devoted friend, the portrait artist Joseph Severn, hoping the warmer climate would help his ailing health, but he suffered a violent relapse a month later. On the poet's deathbed, Joseph Severn played Haydn's sonatas on a hired pianoforte to the ailing poet. John Keats died on February 23, 1821.
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| Keats House in Rome |
1821 Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Empire for a period of 400 years. The traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence is March 25, 1821, though the war actually began February 23, 1821. The country's sovereignty and full independence from the Ottoman Empire was confirmed in a London Protocol on February 3, 1830, as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
1836 The Alamo Franciscan mission and fortress compound was built in San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio), Texas in 1718. It was authorized by the viceroy of Mexico to be an educational center for local Indians who convert to Christianity. During the War of Texan Independence from Mexico, 4,000 Mexican troops launched an assault on the Alamo Mission on February 23, 1836. Just about all of the Texian defenders were killed during the 13 day siege.
1846 William Horlick, the original patent holder of malted milk, was born in the English village of Ruardean on February 23, 1846. Horlick emigrated from Ruardean to the US in 1869 and was later joined by his pharmacist brother James. By the early 1880s they had developed and patented a method for mixing malted barley and wheat with whole milk and turning it into a powder by evaporation. In 1887 the Horlicks brothers' drink was trademarked as "malted milk."
1848 John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, died on February 23, 1848. Two days previously, he'd had a stroke on the floor of the US House. Adams was carried to the Speaker’s Room where he passed away. John Quincy Adams and his father John Adams are buried together in a basement crypt in Quincy, Massachusetts.
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| John Quincy Adams collapses |
1873 In 1873 Major Walter Wingfield created an outdoor game he called "Sphairistike." Major Walter Wingfield was at heart a salesman and a promoter. The retired British army officer drew up a set of rules and, on February 23, 1874, patented his 'sphairistrike' game, which mixed elements of racquets, badminton, and court tennis. Between July 1874 and June 1875, 1,050 of his 'sphairistrike' sets were sold. The game survives to this day as lawn tennis, from the French "tenez."
1884 The Polish chemist Casimir Funk was born on February 23, 1884. While working at the Lister Institute in London he discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk suggested the amine be named "vitamine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. It was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all, but Funk's term continued to be applied.
1886 American inventor Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of man-made aluminium on February 23, 1886 after several years of intensive work. The process involved passing an electric current through a bath of alumina dissolved in cryolite, which results in a puddle of aluminium forming in the bottom of the retort. He was assisted in this project by his older sister Julia Brainerd Hall.
1886 The London Times started publishing classified advertisements on Tuesdays on February 23, 1886. Matchmakers advertising lonely spinsters were among the first to use these classifieds, which were popular due to societal norms and restrictions on social interactions at the time. Though the concept of personal ads likely existed before 1886, possibly in pamphlets, broadsheets, or even handwritten notes circulated in communities, February 23rd, 1886, is a notable date in the history of personal classifieds.
1903 The U.S. government signed a perpetual lease with Cuba on February 23, 1903, to site a naval base at Guantanamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. The lease was $2,000 per year until 1934, when it was increased to $4,085 per year). Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Cuban government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil and called it illegal under international law.
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| An aerial view of the naval base |
1934 English composer Edward Elgar died on February 23, 1934. Inoperable colorectal cancer had been discovered during an operation four and a half months earlier, He was buried next to his wife Alice at St. Wulstan's Church in Little Malvern.
1965 Stan Laurel was a heavy smoker until suddenly quitting around 1960, five years before his death from a heart attack, on February 23, 1965. He was 74. Laurel was cremated, and his ashes were interred in Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery.
1972 While stationed with US army in Friedberg, Germany, Elvis Presley met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu. They would eventually wed in 1967 after a seven-and-a-half-year courtship and had one child together, Lisa Marie. The pair separated on February 23, 1972, after Priscilla disclosed her relationship with Mike Stone, a karate instructor Presley had recommended to her. The Presleys divorced the following year.
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| The Presleys with newborn Lisa Marie, February 1968 |
2008 The longest recorded time aloft for a boomerang throw that was successfully caught is 3 minutes and 49 seconds. It was achieved by Seattle attorney Betsylew Miale-Gix at a tournament in Tucson, Arizona. on February 23, 2008.
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