Today in History - History - February 23rd

1847Battle of Buena Vista Mexico; Zachary Taylor defeats Mexicans

1927Pres Calvin Coolidge creates Federal Radio Commission (FRC)

1998Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.

1938Joe Louis KOs Nathan Mann in 3 for heavyweight boxing title

1979"The Deer Hunter", starring Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken, is released

1985Goaltender Patrick Roy makes his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens

19541st mass inoculation with salk vaccine (Pittsburgh)

193911th Academy Awards - "You Can't Take It With You," Spencer Tracy & Bette Davis wins

2005Slovakia Summit 2005 begins, marking the first occasion when a sitting American President visits Slovakia; George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin are in attendance.

200042nd Grammy Awards: Smooth, Christina Aguilera wins

1685George Frideric Handel, Halle Germany, baroque composer and (Messiah, Water Music)

1949Marc Garneau, Quebec City Quebec, Canadian astronaut (STS 13, 77)

1994Dakota Fanning, American actress

1868William E B Du Bois, Great Barrington Massachusetts, civil rights activist and writer (Souls of Black Folk)

2013Former "Married ... with Children" actress Christina Applegate (41) weds rocker Martyn LeNoble (43) in Los Angeles

2003Actor Paul Rudd (33) weds publicist Julie Yaeger

1995James Herriot [Alfred Wight], Scottish author (All Creatures Great & Small), dies at 78

1848John Quincy Adams, 6th US President (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at 80

1855Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, dies

1821John Keats, Romantic poet, dies of tuberculosis at 25 in Rome