The Almanac
Today is Thursday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2017 with 311 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury.
Evening stars are Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus. Those born on this
day are under the sign of Pisces. They include British diarist Samuel
Pepys in 1633; German composer George Frideric Handel in 1685; Mayer
Amschel Rothschild, European banker/founder of the Rothschild financial
dynasty, in 1744; writer/philosopher W.E.B. DuBois in 1868; film
director Victor Fleming (Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz) in 1889;
journalist/author William Shirer in 1904; Paul Tibbets, pilot of the
Enola Gay on the 1945 flight that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
Japan, in 1915; former congressman/longtime University of Nebraska
football Coach Tom Osborne in 1937 (age 80); actor Peter Fonda in 1940
(age 77); football Hall of Fame member Fred Biletnikoff in 1943 (age
74); musician Johnny Winter in 1944; novelist John Roswell Camp (who
writes as John Sandford) in 1944 (age 73); former Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko in 1954 (age 63); actor Patricia Richardson in 1951
(age 66); actor Emily Blunt in 1983 (age 34); actor Dakota Fanning in
1994 (age 23). On this date in history: In 1836, soldiers under the
command of Mexican President General Antonio López de Santa Anna began
their assault on the Alamo Mission near present-day San Antonio, Texas.
Eleven days later, the Alamo's small group of Texian (Texan) defenders
were defeated by the 1500-plus Mexican Army. In 1903, the United States
was granted a lease in perpetuity on Guantanamo Bay by Cuban officials.
In 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of California and
fired 25 shells at an oil refinery near Santa Barbara. In 1945, members
of the 5th Division of the U.S. Marines planted a U.S. flag atop Mount
Suribachi on the strategically important Pacific island of Iwo Jima
near the end of one of World War II's bloodiest battles. In 1982,
Canada, Japan and the Common Market nations of Europe joined the United
States in economic and diplomatic sanctions against Poland and the
Soviet Union to protest imposition of martial law in Poland. In 1991,
military forces in Thailand overthrew the elected government and
imposed martial law. In 1994, Bosnia's warring Croats and Muslims
signed a cease-fire. The Croats agreed to pull back from the Muslim
city of Mostar, which had been under siege. In 1995, the Dow Jones
industrial average closed at more than 4,000 for the first time -- at
4,003.33. In 1998, a series of tornadoes raked central Florida, killing
42 people and injuring more than 200 others. In 1999, a jury in Jasper,
Texas, convicted self-described white supremacist John King in the June
1998 killing of a black man who'd been dragged to his death behind a
pickup truck. Two days later, King was sentenced to death. In 2006, the
snow-covered roof of a Moscow vegetable market collapsed, killing at
least 60 people and injuring more than two dozen others. In 2013,
Iran's atomic energy agency announced plans to build 16 nuclear power
plants throughout the country. The announcement came days before Iran
was to resume talks on its internationally disputed nuclear program. In
2014, the 22nd Winter Olympics ended in Sochi, Russia, with the home
team winning the medals race, with 33 overall. A thought for the day:
Jack London said riding a bicycle is something that makes life worth
living. .
