On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 -Lavrence Wheeler, proprietor of Wheeler's Inn, situated on High,way 101 in the midst of the Eio wood oil field, gave an account t night of the shelling by the enemy submarine.
Sir W Jowitt and press urge death penalty for black market dealers
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 -- President Roosevelt told the American people tonight that the United Nations soon will have the offensive, and eventually will win the final victory, but warned that we must suffer more losses "before the turn of the tide."
250 West Coast plants take Washington's Birthday holiday when employers and unions disagree on pay rate
1942Paul Jones, English singer, harmonica player, and actor[†]
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonicist, radio personality and television presenter. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of the rock band Manfred Mann (1962–66) with whom he had several hit records including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Pretty Flamingo".
1942Celia Kaye, American actress[†]
Celia Kaye is an American actress. She starred in the 1964 film adaptation of Island of the Blue Dolphins which won her a Golden Globe award.
1942Joe Lieberman, American lawyer and politician (died 2024)[†]
Joseph Isadore Lieberman was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 presidential election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an Independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.
1942Jenny O'Hara, American actress[†]
Jenny O'Hara is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in My Sister Sam (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in The King of Queens (2001–2007), and Nita in Big Love (2006–2009).
1942Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Indian philosopher, theorist, and academic[†]
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.
1942Seven hundred ninety-one Romanian Jewish refugees and crew members are killed after the MV Struma is torpedoed by the Soviet Navy.[†]
The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after around 1850, and more especially after the establishment of Greater Romania in the aftermath of World War I. A diverse community, albeit an overwhelmingly urban one, Jews were a target of religious persecution and racism in Romanian society from the late-19th century debate over the "Jewish Question" and the Jewish residents' right to citizenship, leading to the genocide carried out in the lands of Romania as part of the Holocaust. The latter, coupled with successive waves of emigration, including aliyah to Israel, has accounted for a dramatic decrease in the overall size of Romania's present-day Jewish community.
1942The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.[†]
The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late February 24, to early February 25, 1942, over Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred less than three months after the U.S. entered World War II in response to the Imperial Japanese Navy's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after the bombardment of Ellwood near Santa Barbara on 23 February. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the purported attack a "false alarm". Newspapers of the time published a number of reports and speculations of a cover-up to conceal an actual invasion by enemy airplanes.