23rd Feb in History

23rd Feb:

 1573 – Irish rebellion is crushed effectively with surrender of James Fitzmaurice; pacification of Perth ends fighting in Scotland between Regent and supporters of Mary Queen of Scots.

1574 – Fifth War of Religion breaks out in France.

1660 – Sweden’s King Charles IX executes leaders of pro-Polish party for treason.

1766 – Duchy of Lorraine is incorporated into France.

1820  – Cato Street conspiracy to murder British cabinet minister is discovered.

1836  – Siege of the Alamo begins in US state of Texas against Mexican attackers.

1854  – Britain agrees to leave territory north of Orange River in South Africa, allowing for establishment of constitution for Orange Free State.

1901  – Britain and Germany agree on boundary between German  east Africa and nyasaland.

1933 – Japan begins occupation of China north of the Great Wall.

1934 – nicaraguan rebel leader Cesar Augusto Sandino, invited to meet with army leader and later dictator Anastasio Somoza, is abducted and murdered.

1938 – First oil discovery in Kuwait.

1942 – Japanese submarine shells oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.

1945  – US Marines plant flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, but it will be another three weeks until all Japanese defenders on the island are defeated.

1964 – Britain recognises President Abdul Amari Karume’s regime in Zanzibar.

1970 – Republic of Guyana, formerly British Guinea, formally ends association with Britain but remains within Commonwealth.

1975 – US decision to end arms embargo against Pakistan draws wrath of India, which cancels planned March meeting in Washington, DC.

1990 – Prince Sihanouk returns to Cambodia after 11 years in exile.

1991 – Military junta seizes power in Thailand after a bloodless coup.

1993 – Rallying behind red flags and portraits of Lenin, more than 10,000 pro-Communists march to the Kremlin to denounce Russian President Boris Yeltsin and urge the military to rise up against him.

1994  – Bosnia’s Muslim-led government and Croat forces sign a truce.

1995  – Speaking to Canada’s Parliament, US President Bill Clinton voices support for a united Canada.

1996 – Two sons-in-law of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are killed by clan members after returning to the country after having tried to defect.

1997 – Ali Abu Kamal, a Palestinian, fires a gun into a crowd on the observation deck of  new York City’s  empire State Building, killing one person and injuring six, then shoots himself to death.

1998  – Leftist guerrillas set off a mine in India, killing five soldiers sent to guard polling stations and raising the death toll related to parliamentary elections to 29.

1999 – The first peace talks between Kosovo Albanians and Yugoslavia end in Rambouillet, France, without much progress toward a settlement.  nATO suspends its threat of bombing till the talks resume March 15.

2000 - Preston King, a black man who refused induction into the Army in the 1960s because the all-white draft board wouldn’t address him as “Mr.,” returns to the United States for the first time in 39 years after receiving a presidential pardon.

2001  - Thousands of people flee brutal ethnic clashes on the Indonesian part of Borneo island as fighting between native Dayak people and immigrants from Madura island escalates, claiming at least 165 lives.

2002 - Colombia’s President Andres Pastrana returns to the very spot in former rebel territory where he began a tortuous peace process three years ago and blames the guerrillas for sabotaging the talks to end Colombia’s 38-year war.

2003  - Opposition legislators walk out in protest after Bangladesh’s Parliament passes a law pardoning soldiers involved in a three-month anti-crime campaign in which 44 people died on January 11.

2004 - At least 66 people die in weekend clashes among Colombian troops, leftist rebels of the United Self-Defense Forces or AUC, and right-wing paramilitary forces. The two-day toll is extremely high even by standards in Colombia, which has been engulfed in a 40-year insurgency.

2005 - Indonesia’s government and separatist rebels make headway in talks aimed at ending nearly 30 years of fighting in the oil and gas-rich province of Aceh with both sides agreeing to outside involvement and the insurgents scrapping, at least publicly, a desire for independence.

2006  - The snow-covered roof of a large Moscow market collapses, killing at least 66 people and forcing rescuers to clear away concrete slabs and metal beams to reach possible survivors trapped in the wreckage.

2007 - Forty-six countries sign a declaration in Oslo pushing for a global ban on cluster bombs, a move activists hailed as a major step forward despite opposition from major powers the US, Russia, Israel and China.

2008 - A B-2 stealth bomber plunges to the ground shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam, the first time the aircraft has crashed, but both pilots eject safely.

2009 - The first Guantanamo detainee released since President Barrack Obama took

office returns to Britain, saying his seven years in captivity were a nightmare.

2010 - Darfur’s most powerful rebel group and the Sudanese government sign a truce after a year of internationally sponsored negotiations, raising hopes the bloody seven-year conflict could draw to a close.

2011  - The scope of Moammar Gadaffi’s control whittles away as major Libyan cities and towns closer to the capital fall to the rebellion against his rule. In the east, now all but broken away, the opposition vowed to “liberate” Tripoli, where the Libyan leader is holed up.

2012 - Un-appointed investigators in Geneva say a list for possible crimes against humanity prosecution reaches as high as Syrian President Bashar Assad