ON THIS DAY

FEBRUARY 23

1455 The Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type, is published, greatly accelerating the spread of literacy.

1804 George Rex, allegedly the son of King George III and Hannah Lightfoot, auctions his house in Cape Town and settles at Melkhoutkraal, Knysna.

1836 The 13-day Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas. Mexican General Santa Anna eventually kills the entire garrison, including American folk heroes David Bowie and Davy Crockett.

1854 The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.

1874 Inspired by athleticism of the ancient Greeks, Welsh Major Walter Winfield patents a game called sphairistike (from the Greek, the art of playing ball) to help fill the need for gentle outdoor activities for the middleclasses and is credited as the inventor of lawn tennis.

1886 The Times of London publishes the world’s first classified advert.

1900 During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart’s Hill fails.

1903 Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the US in perpetuity.

1905 The Rotary Club, the world’s first service club, is formed in Chicago. There are numerous examples in South Africa.

1916 Believing panic-stricken soldiers fleeing Samogneux, French artillery turn their sights on the village and with unusually accurate fire wipe out the entire French 72nd division, as well as men from other units. In all, 16 224 soldiers die from so-called ‘friendly fire’.

1942 Japanese submarines shell the coast of California.

1944 The USSR begins deporting Chechen and Ingush peoples from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.

1945 During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of US Marines summit Mount Suribachi and plant the American flag, signalling the conquest of Iwo Jima.

1954 The first mass inoculation against polio takes place.

1991 US President George HW Bush gives Iraq a 24-hour deadline to withdraw from Kuwait.

1997 Scientists in Scotland say they have cloned a sheep, producing a lamb named ‘Dolly’.

2008 A US Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, destroying the B2’s perfect safety record and making it the most expensive air crash in history (the aircraft cost $1.2 billion to build). | THE HISTORIAN