#TodayInHistory – February 23

February 23 – Some important events on this day

303 👉🏼 Roman Emperor Diocletian begins his policy of persecuting Christians, razing the church at Nicomedia
1455 👉🏼 Johannes Gutenberg prints his first Bible (estimated date)
1540 👉🏼 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition sets off from Mexico in search of the 7 cities of Cibola
1836 👉🏼 Alamo besieged for 13 days until March 6 by Mexican army under General Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed
1886 👉🏼 “The Times” of London publishes world’s 1st classified ad
1904 👉🏼 United States acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million

1945 👉🏼 US Marines raise American flag on top of Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Photo of which by Joe Rosenthall later became iconic, inspiring the Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture.
In the United States this photograph has become one of the most significant and recognizable images of World War II.
Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication.
The image was used by Felix de Weldon in 1954 to sculpt the Marine Corps War Memorial located adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, D.C. The memorial is dedicated to all Marines who died for their country past and present.

1954 👉🏼 1st mass inoculation against Polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh
1963 👉🏼 Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera in “La traviata”
1968 Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points
1997 👉🏼 Scientists in Scotland announce they have cloned an adult mammal, producing a lamb named “Dolly”
1998 👉🏼 Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders
2020 👉🏼 First major COVID-19 outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy