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"