Browsing: February 23

A Brief History On February 23, 1778, the Baron von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge to assist George Washington with training the Continental Army.  Washington was waging a war of independence against Britain, to forever remove what would become the United States from the tyranny of living under a King.  Today, we find there are many “kings” in the USA and we list some of these from the 20th and 21st Centuries. Digging Deeper First, we have “The King of all media,” Howard Stern, shock jock of radio, television, literature, and the internet. Several musical “kings” have reigned, including Elvis…

A Brief History On February 23, 1945, with World War II in Europe rapidly approaching its end, the RAF targeted the German town of Pforzheim in a massive bombing raid that killed almost a third of the residents and destroyed 83% of its buildings, including virtually its entire city center.  The reason for leveling this German city?  The jewelry and watch making industry located there! Digging Deeper The RAF sent 367 Avro Lancaster heavy bombers and 13 Mosquito medium bombers to lead the way, dropping the usual mix of high explosive and incendiary bombs to blow up and burn the…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 23rd.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 23, 1778, the Baron von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge to assist George Washington with training the Continental Army. On February 23, 1896, dentists all over the world must have felt the Earth shake, for on that day the Tootsie Roll was introduced. On February 23, 1903, Cuba made a deal with the United States to lease 45 square miles…

A Brief History On February 23, 1903, Cuba made a deal with the United States to lease 45 square miles of land and sea for a period of time with no expiration, virtually forever! Digging Deeper In 1898, the US and Spain fought a war, including ground and sea combat in Cuba, then a Spanish possession.  The US won the short war, and took possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, while Cuba was freed from Spain and became an independent country. The original rent payment was to be paid in Gold, $2000 per year, but after 1934 the…

A Brief History On February 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against the Polio virus took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The developer of the vaccine, Dr. Jonas Salk, was hailed as hero and the scourge of Polio was basically eradicated from the United States.  No longer would “iron lungs” be common, and parents did not have to live the nightmare of their children dying or becoming crippled by Polio.  As with other vaccines, the Salk vaccine saved untold millions of lives and prevented untold amounts of misery, and yet in recent years vaccines have been under fire from…