Today In History

Today is Friday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2018. There are 311 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1945: during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags (the second flag-raising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.)

ON THIS DATE

› 1685: Composer George Frideric Handel was born in present-day Germany.

› 1836: The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

› 1848: The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died in Washington, D.C., at age 80.

› 1870: Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.

› 1927: President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill creating the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission.

› 1942: The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.

› 1954: The first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.

› 1992: The XVI Winter Olympic Games ended in Albertville, France.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Peter Fonda is 78. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff is 75. Author John Sandford is 74. Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 72. Actress Patricia Richardson is 67. Former NFL player Ed “Too Tall” Jones is 67. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 66. Singer Howard Jones is 63. Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is

56. Country singer Dusty Drake is 54. Actress Kristin Davis is 53. Tennis player Helena Sukova is

53. Actor Marc Price is

50. TV personality/businessman Daymond John (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 49. Actress Niecy Nash is 48. Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 47. Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 45. Actress Kelly Macdonald is 42. Rapper Residente (Calle 13) is 40. Actor Josh Gad is 37. Actress Emily Blunt is 35. Actor Aziz Ansari is 35. Actor Tye White (TV: “Greenleaf”) is 32. Actress Dakota Fanning is 24.