February 23 in history — What Happened Today in History

Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.

An avalanche buries the town of Galtür, Austria, killing 31.

In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people.

In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.

Saddam Hussein begins the Anfal genocide against Kurds and Assyrians in northern Iraq.

Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.

In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.

The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.

Operation Lam Son 719: South Vietnamese General Do Cao Tri was killed in a helicopter crash en route to taking control of the faltering campaign.

In Syria, Ba'ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist.

Five-time Argentine Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by rebels involved in the Cuban Revolution, on the eve of the Cuban Grand Prix. He was released the following day after the race.

The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.

General elections are held in the United Kingdom.

International Organization for Standardization is founded.

World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.

World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free all 2,147 captives of the Los Baños internment camp, in what General Colin Powell later would refer to as "the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies".

World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.

World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.

World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers.

American Airlines Flight 009 crashes near Rural Retreat, Virginia, killing 17.

The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.

The Cavan Orphanage fire kills thirty-five girls and an elderly cook.

Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece.

World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California.

Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.

Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.

Evan Bates, American ice dancer

Jérémy Pied, French footballer

Wilin Rosario, Dominican baseball player

Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine footballer

Ab-Soul, American rapper

Malik Hairston, American basketball player

Theophilus London, Trinidadian-American singer-songwriter and producer

Emerson Conceição, Brazilian footballer

Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter

Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor

Jerod Mayo, American football player and coach

Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter

Mido, Egyptian footballer, manager and sportscaster

Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English Holocaust survivor, pianist and educator (born 1903)

Roger Hilsman, American soldier, academic, and politician (born 1919)

Eugene Bookhammer, American soldier and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware (born 1918)

Joseph Friedenson, Holocaust survivor, Holocaust historian, Yiddish writer, lecturer and editor (born 1922)

Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal (born 1920)

Lotika Sarkar, Indian lawyer and academic (born 1945)

William Raggio, American lawyer and politician (born 1926)

David Sayre, American physicist and mathematician (born 1924)

Kazimierz Żygulski, Polish sociologist and activist (born 1919)

Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (born 1923)

Orlando Zapata, Cuban plumber and activist (born 1967)

Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (born 1950)

Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver and journalist (born 1917)