HISTORY AT A GLANCE

TODAY is Thursday, February 23, the 54th day of 2017. There are 311 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces. 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.

1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.

1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.

1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état bycapturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.

1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.

1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.

1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.

1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.

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 After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.

2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.

2008 – A US Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.

2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million litres of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster.

2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured.