This day in history

[February 23, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2009. There are 311 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Feb. 23, 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag twice. (The second flag-raising was captured in the iconic photo taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal).

On this date:

In 1633, English diarist Samuel Pepys was born in London.

In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1848, the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died in Washington at age 80.

In 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, following word of a possible assassination plot in Baltimore.

In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.

In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1942, the first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, Calif., causing little damage.

In 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.

In 1981, an attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded the Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (The attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)

In 1998, 42 people were killed, some 2,600 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, by tornadoes in central Florida.

Ten years ago: A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted white supremacist John William King of murder in the gruesome dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr.; King was sentenced to death two days later. Serbs agreed in principle to give limited self-rule to majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, thereby avoiding for the time being threatened by NATO air strikes, but the two sides failed to conclude a deal for ending their yearlong conflict during talks in Rambouillet, France. The first of two avalanches that claimed 38 lives over two days struck in Austria.

Five years ago: The Army canceled its Comanche helicopter program after sinking $6.9 billion into it over 21 years. Education Secretary Rod Paige likened the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, to a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors. (Paige later called it a poor choice of words, but stood by his claim the NEA was using "obstructionist scare tactics.")

One year ago: Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other U.S. officials held daylong meetings with Australian leaders in Canberra. Former United Auto Workers president Douglas A. Fraser died in Southfield, Mich., at age 91.

Today's birthdays: Country songwriter Bob Willis is 75. Actor Peter Fonda is 69. Author John Sandford is 65. Singer-musician Johnny Winter is 65. Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 63. Actress Patricia Richardson is 58. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 57. Singer Howard Jones is 54. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 47. Country singer Dusty Drake is 45. Actress Kristin Davis is 44. Tennis player Helena Sukova is 44. Actor Marc Price is 41. Actress Niecy Nash is 39. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 38. Country singer Steve Holy is 37. Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 36. Actress Emily Blunt is 26. Actress Dakota Fanning is 15.

Thought for today: "Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)

[Associated Press]

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