SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2008

Today is Saturday, February 23, the 54th day of 2008. There are 312 days left in the year.

303 _ Emperor Diocletian orders general persecution of Christians

1455 _ Johannes Gutenberg prints first book, the Bible (estimated date)

1660 _ Charles XI becomes king of Sweden

1689 _ Dutch Prince William III proclaimed king of England

1804 _ Conspirators against Napoleon, for restoration of Louis XVIII

1861 _ By popular referendum, Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the U.S.

1861 _ President-elect Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., to take office

1886 _ Aluminum manufacturing process developed

1886 _ Tsjaikovski's symphony ``Manfred" premieres

1898 _ In France, Emile Zola is imprisoned for writing his ``J'accuse" letter accusing government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus

1904 _ Control of Panam's Canal Zone acquired by the U.S. for $10 million

1916 _ Congress authorizes McKinley Memorial $1 gold coin

1919 _ Benito Mussolini founds the Facist Party of Italy

1956 _ Russian party leader Khrushchev attacks memory of Stalin

1967 _ U.S. troops begin largest offensive of Vietnam War

1987 _ Russian Writers Union accepts Boris Pasternak posthumous as member

1991 _ Military coup in Thailand, Premier Choonhaven arrested

1997 _ Scientists in Scotland announced they succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named ``Dolly"