GMT

Today in History: February 23

0303 Emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of Christians in Rome.

1540 Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado begins his unsuccessful search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the American Southwest.

1778 Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

1836 The Alamo is besieged by Santa Anna.

1846 The Liberty Bell tolls for the last time, to mark George Washington's birthday.

1861 Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union.

1921 An airmail plane sets a record of 33 hours and 20 minutes from San Francisco to New York.

1926 President Calvin Coolidge opposes a large air force, believing it would be a menace to world peace.

1945 U.S. Marines plant an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

1991 French forces unofficially start the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the Saudi-Iraqi border.



Born on February 23

1743 Meyer Amschel Rothschild, banker and founder of the Rothschild dynasty in Europe.

1924 Allan MacLeod Cormack, physicist, developed the CAT scan.


JOTD

A lady about 8 months pregnant got on a bus. She noticed the man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat. This time the smile turned into a grin, so she moved again.

He seemed more amused. When on the fourth move, the man burst out laughing, she complained to the driver and he had the man arrested.The case came up in court. The Judge asked the man (about 20 years old) what he had to say for himself.The man replied..."Well your Honor, it was like this: When the lady got on the bus, I couldn't help but notice her condition. She sat under a sweets sign that said, "The Double Mint Twins are Coming" and I grinned.Then she moved and sat under a sign that said "Logan's Liniment will reduce the swelling", and I had to smile.Then she placed herself under a deodorant sign that said "William's Big Stick Did the Trick", and I could hardly contain myself.BUT, your Honor, when she moved for the fourth time and sat under the sign that said "Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this Accident"..... “it was then that I.... lost it”