This Week in History
HISTORY, 23 Feb 2015
Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service
February 23–March 1
Quote of the Week:
“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says, ‘I’m possible’!” — Audrey Hepburn
FEBRUARY 23
2014 The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics take place in Sochi, Russia.
2013 Leaks from Nuclear Waste Tanks at Hanford. “The Washington Post reported that Governor Jay Inslee had publicly announced that six of the 177 million gallon nuclear waste tanks at Hanford Reservation in south-central Washington state were experiencing significant leaks. The tanks are long-past their 20-year life span and the federal government is spending just a few billion dollars annually cleaning up dozens of legacy nuclear bomb-making sites nationally. Comments: In addition to the large military nuclear waste problem at sites like Hanford, Paducah, Kentucky, Fernald, Ohio, Oak Ridge, Tennessee and other locations, civilian nuclear power plant wastes, including thousands of spent fuel rods kept in water storage pools at nuclear reactor sites, and wastes shipped to the flawed Waste Isolation Pilot Project facility in New Mexico, represent a decades-long growing problem for not only the United States but for dozens of other nations that oversee the world’s 400 civilian nuclear power plants. This is yet another reason to call for not only the elimination of thousands of nuclear weapons but also the dangerous, economically unsustainable, and unhealthy global civilian nuclear power infrastructure. The huge clean up conundrum is growing exponentially worse year after year but policymakers continue to ignore or downgrade this crisis.” Quoted from http://www.wagingpeace.org/february-this-month-in-nuclear-threat-history/ .
2012 A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.
2005 The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the “positive values of colonialism”. After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.
1999 Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
1991 In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
1991 Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1981 In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
1980 Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1974 The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1966 In Syria, Ba’ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.
1955 First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
1947 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
1945 World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
1944 The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
1943 Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded is Greece.
1941 Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
1927 German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
1917 First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
1903 Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.
1900 Second Boer War: Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart’s Hill.
1898 Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing “J’accuse“, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1885 Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.
1854 The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
1847 Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1836 Texas Revolution: The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
1821 Alexander Ypsilantis starts the Greek War of Independence in Iași, Wallachia (now part of Romania).
FEBRUARY 24
2008 Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.
2007 Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
2006 Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
1991 Gulf War offensive begins. Visit http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gulf-war-ground-offensive-begins;_and_http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/world/war-in-the-gulf-war-summary.html._ For more information on the Gulf War, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War.
1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.
1976 Cuba: national Constitution is proclaimed.
1968 Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1944 Merrill’s Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese occupied Burma.
1942 An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
1942 The Battle of Los Angeles, one of the largest documented UFO sightings in history; the event lasted into the early hours of February 25.
1920 The Nazi Party is founded. Visit, for instance, http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/party.htm;_ http://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/before-1933/nazi-party-platform;_http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler02241941.html;_http://www.mapsofworld.com/on-this-day/february-24-1920-hitler-launches-the-twenty-five-point-program-of-the-nazi-party-in-munich-germany;_http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/nsdap.html;_and http://users.stlcc.edu/rkalfus/PDFs/026.pdf.
1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence.
1917 World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
1895 Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ends with the Spanish–American War in 1898.
1881 China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
1831 The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
1826 The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
FEBRUARY 25
2011 In China, Jia Qinglin, senior leader of the People’s Republic of China, calls for controls over Tibetan Buddhism and a renewed struggle against the Dalai Lama. Visit, for instance, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12575470?print=true;_ http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/1490-china-calls-for-renewed-fight-against-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama;_ an_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet.
2010 After being delayed by the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych is sworn in as the 4th President of Ukraine. For Victor Yanukovych, visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych.
1994 Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors.
1992 Khojaly massacre: about 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
1991 The Warsaw Pact is declared disbanded.
1991 Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
1986 People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines‘ first woman president.
1981 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1980 The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup which is initiated by the bombing of the police station from an army ship off the coast of the nation’s capital, Paramaribo
1971 The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online.
1968 Vietnam War: 135 unarmed citizens of Hà My village in South Vietnam‘s Quảng Nam Province are killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be known as the Hà My massacre.
1964 North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones.
1956 In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
1954 Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
1948 The Communist Party takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
1947 The State of Prussia ceases to exist.
1945 World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
1941 February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
1933 The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier. For history of aircraft carriers, visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_aircraft_carrier. For aircraft carriers in general, visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier.
1932 Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
1921 Tbilisi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
1916 World War I: the Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
1912 Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
1875 Guangxu Emperor of China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi‘s regency.
1870 Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress. Visit http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Black-Americans-in-Congress/;_ http://www.myblackhistory.net/Politics.htm;_ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wmafr;_and/or_http://www.blackpolitics.org/african-american-politics-a-history-of-struggle/. For African American women in the US politics, visit, for instance, http://americanpoliticswiki.com/African_American_women_in_politics.
1856 A Peace conference opens in Paris after the Crimean War.
1848 Provisional government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc‘s motion, guarantees workers’ rights.
1843 Provisional Cession of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands established by Lord George Paulet.
1836 Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt revolver.
1831 Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, part of Polish November Uprising against Russian Empire.
1821 Greek War of Independence: Alexander Ypsilantis issues a proclamation at Iași, announcing that he had “the support of a great power” (i.e. Russia).
1797 Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the Last invasion of Britain.
FEBRUARY 26
1995 The United Kingdom’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after securities broker Nick Leeson, loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
1993 World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand.
1992 Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
1991 Gulf War: United States Army forces capture the town of Al Busayyah.
1990 USSR agrees to withdraw all 73,500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July, 1991. Visit, for instance, http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/27/world/upheaval-east-czechoslovakia-gorbachev-sees-havel-agrees-speed-withdrawal-troops.html;_and_http://timelines.ws/countries/CZECHOSLOVAKIA.HTML_and/or_http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/link-suggestion/wpcd_2008-09_augmented/wp/1/1990.htm.
1987 Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
1980 Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1971 U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.
1966 Vietnam War: The ROK Capital Division of the South Korean Army massacres 380 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam.
1946 Finnish observers report the first of many thousands of sightings of ghost rockets.
1936 In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
1935 Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
1935 Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
1910 Gandhi supports the African People’s Organisations resolution to declare the day of arrival of the Prince of Wales in South Africa as a day of mourning in protest against the South Africa Acts disenfranchisement of Indians, Coloureds and Africans in the upcoming Union of South Africa. Visit, for instance, http://www.sahistory.org.za/1900s/1910s.
1909 Austria and Turkey conclude an agreement in which Turkey recognizes Austria’s 1908 annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is to receive compensation. For more information on this event, visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_crisis;_and_http://www.archive.org/stream/austrianforeignp00pribuoft/austrianforeignp00pribuoft_djvu.txt.
1876 Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
FEBRUARY 27
2012 Wikileaks begins releasing 5 million emails from Stratfor, a private intelligence company. For more information on Wikileaks, visit http://wikileaks.org/About.html;_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks;_http://wikileaks.org/;_http://www.theguardian.com/media/wikileaks;_http://mirror.wikileaks.info/;_and/or_http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/wikileaks/.
2004 A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines‘ worst terrorist attack kills 116.
2002 Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu prigrims.
1995 Zakho: A terrorist explosion in a market in the city of Zakho leaves about 100 dead and 150 wounded.
1991 Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated”.
1989 Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
1988 Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent massacre.
1982 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island.
1976 The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
1973 The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1963 The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
1962 Two dissident Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem.
1943 The Rosenstrasse protest (= nonviolent protest in Rose street) starts in Berlin.
1942 World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
1902 Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria for war crimes.
1900 Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditionapl notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje at the Battle of Paardeberg.
1881 First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
1844 The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
1829 Battle of Tarqui is fought.
1812 Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
1700 The island of New Britain is discovered.
1617 Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
FEBRUARY 28
2013 Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church becoming the first pope to do so since 1415.
2005 A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.
2004 Over one million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (310 mi) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947
2003 United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said there is no evidence that Iraq has any weapons of mass destruction. For more information on this issue, visit, for instance, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/28/world/threats-responses-inspections-principle-iraq-agrees-destroy-forbidden-missiles.html;_http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/sprj.irq.un.transcript.blix/;_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction;_http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/18_blix.shtml;_and_http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/19/17374226-iraq-war-10-years-later-where-are-they-now-hans-blix-un-weapons-inspector?lite.
2002 During the religious violence in Gujarat, the 97 people killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in Gulbarg Society massacre.
1998 Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.
1998 First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
1997 Military Coup in Turkey
1997 GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.
1991 The first Gulf War ends.
1986 European Economic Community sign “Single European Act” for Europe free trade. Visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_European_Act;_http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/treaties_singleact_en.htm;_and_http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-single-european-act.htm#didyouknowout. Also see the section of Towards Maastricht in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community.
1986 Olof Palme, prime minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
1985 The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.
1980 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1980 Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
1975 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1972 Sino-American relations: The United States and People’s Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.
1953 James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April’s Nature (pub. April 2).
1948 Christiansborg Cross-Roads shooting in the Gold Coast, when a British police officer opens fire on a march of ex-servicemen, killing three of them and sparking major riots in Accra.
1947 228 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of an estimated 30,000 civilians.
1942 The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
1939 Great-Britain recognizes Franco-regime in Spain.
1935 DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1933 Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.
1922 The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
1914 The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus is proclaimed in Gjirokastër, by the Greeks living in southern Albania.
1900 The Second Boer War: The 118-day “Siege of Ladysmith” is lifted.
1897 Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force.
1870 The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.
1867 Seventy years of Holy See-United States relations are ended by a Congressional ban on federal funding of diplomatic envoys to the Vatican and are not restored until January 10, 1984.
1847 The Battle of the Sacramento River during the Mexican–American War is a decisive victory for the United States leading to the capture of Chihuahua.
1811 Cry of Asencio, beginning of the Uruguayan War of Independence
1710 In the Battle of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock. This is the last time Swedish and Danish troops meet on Swedish soil.
MARCH 1
2007 “Squatters” are evicted from Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, provoking the March 2007 Denmark Riots.
2004 Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum becomes President of Iraq.
2003 The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague. Visit the website of the International Criminal Court, http://www.icc-cpi.int/EN_Menus/icc/Pages/default.aspx. Also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court. See the full text of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm.
2002 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
2002 The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
1999 Ottawa Treaty (= Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention) enters into force. See the full text of this treaty http://www.icbl.org/media/604037/treatyenglish.pdf_or_http://www.icbl.org/en-gb/the-treaty/treaty-in-detail/treaty-text.aspx.
1995 Prime Minister of Poland Waldemar Pawlak resigns from parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Józef Oleksy.
1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1981 Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
1974 Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
1973 Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
1971 President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
1966 The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
1961 Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
1961 American President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
1958 Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.
1956 Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee (= National People’s Army).
1954 Nuclear testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States. Also visit http://www.wagingpeace.org/march-this-month-in-nuclear-threat-history/ . [Note that some websites and documents indicate that the date of this event of the nuclear testing was “February 28”, 1954. This is because of time difference between the local time in Bikini Atoll and that in most Western countries, especially that in the American Continent. When this nuclear testing was conducted, the date of the United States, for instance, was “February 28”, 1954. In Bikini Atoll, however, the date was “March 1”. Bikini Atoll is located in Marshal Islands whose local time is UCT +12h. Washington D.C., for instance, is in the Eastern Standard Time Zone; UCT -5h. This means that the time difference between Bikini Atoll and Washington D.C. is 17h. The date difference may be found in some historical records, due to that in which time zone the record/document in question was prepared.]
– For the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll, visit, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Castle;_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_testing_at_Bikini_Atoll;_ http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1339;_http://www-ns.iaea.org/appraisals/bikini-atoll.asp;_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads;_http://io9.com/5929562/rare-photographs-of-atomic-bomb-testing-at-bikini-atoll;_http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Nuclear_testing_at_Bikini_Atoll;_http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2002/aug/06/travelnews.nuclearindustry.environment;_and/or_http://toxipedia.org/display/wanmec/Atomic+Bomb+Tests+in+the+Bikini+Atoll.
– For Dai Go Fukuryu Maru (= S.S. Lucky Dragon No. 5), visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daigo_Fukury%C5%AB_Maru;_and http://www1.american.edu/TED/LUCKY.HTM.
– For film (movie) Lucky Dragon No.5, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Dragon_No._5_%28film%29;_http://www.allmusic.com/song/lucky-dragon-no-5-mt0043908785;_and watch it, http://www.vioozmoviesonline.com/movie/108776/lucky-dragon-no–5-1959.
1953 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
1950 Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
1947 The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
1946 The Bank of England is nationalised.
1941 World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
1919 March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
1917 The U.S. government releases the unencrypted text of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.
1901 The Australian Army is formed.
1896 Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
1896 Battle of Adowa: an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
1893 Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
1886 The Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
1873 E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter.
1872 Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.
1847 The state of Michigan formally abolishes capital punishment.
1815 Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
1811 Leaders of the Mameluke dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
1565 The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
_____________________________
Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment originally from Japan.
(Sources and references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_23 to March_1;_http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/february_23.html to March_1; http://www.historyorb.com/events/february/23 to March/1; and other relevant websites and documents, mentioned above.)
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 23 Feb 2015.
Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.
If you enjoyed this article, please donate to TMS to join the growing list of TMS Supporters.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.