Unix Timestamp: 1235347200
Monday, February 23. 2009, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Grayrigg rail crash: A Virgin Pendolino train derails in Cumbria, United Kingdom, killing one person and injuring dozens more. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6391633.stm (BBC)

New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia as well as the Australian Capital Territory have agreed to hand over control of the Murray-Darling Basin to the federal government. Negotiations continue with Victoria. //www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081sid=am0OaKDFuc9Irefer=australia (Bloomberg)

British athlete Paula Radcliffe sets a new 10 km road race world record of 30:21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

FARC kidnaps Íngrid Betancourt in Colombia while she caigns for the presidency.

An avalanche destroys the village of Galtür, Austria, killing 31.

A small fire occurs on the Russian space stationMir.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 30.28 to close at 4,003.33 – the Dow's first ever close above 4,000.

The closing ceremony of the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville.

The funeral of Hirohito is attended by representatives of 160 nations.

After 44 years, Estonian flag is raised to the Pikk Hermann Castle tower.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US $3-million bounty on the head of "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie.

February 23–27 ndash U.S. President Bush visits Japan, China, and South Korea, attending the funeral of Hirohito and then meeting with China's Deng Xiaoping and South Korea's Roh Tae-woo.

After protracted testimony, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of John Tower for Secretary of Defense.

Supernova 1987A, the first naked-eye supernova since 1604, is observed.

Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil, enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies and stops the session where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo is about to be named president of the government. The coup d'état fails thanks to King Juan Carlos.

AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.

Oscar Romero becomes Archbishop of San Salvador.

In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly 2 months early in the United States.

Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.

An intra-party military coup in Syria replaces the previous government of Amin al-Hafiz by one lead by Salah Jadid.

hrysler's Second Generation HEMI racing engine (426 Cubic Inches with Hemispherical Head design) debuts at the Daytona 500. The HEMI powered Plymouth of Richard Petty (#43) wins. HEMI powered Plymouths finish 1-2-3.

Arturo Lezama becomes President of the National Council of Government of Uruguay.

The founding congress of the Senegalese Popular Bloc opens in Dakar.

Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" is published.

U Nu becomes Prime Minister of Burma.

Sud Aviation forms from a merger between SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest).

Norma Jean Mortenson legally changes her name to Marilyn Monroe.

The first mass vaccination of children against polio begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as Chinese president after moving his government to Taipei, Taiwan.

Acting Chinese President Li Tsung-jen ends his term in office.

Klaus Fuchs is convicted in London of spying against both Britain and the United States for the Soviet Union, by giving to the latter top secret atomic bomb data.

United Kingdom general election, 1950 : The Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee remains in office but the Tories, led by Winston Churchill increase their seats in the House of Commons.

Wernher von Braun marries his first cousin, the 18-year-old Maria von Quirstorp.

The state of Prussia officially ceases to exist.

The International Monetary Fund begins to operate.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.

John C. Hennessy, Jr., brings the first Volkswagen Beetle to the United States. He purchased the 1946 VW from the U.S. Army Post Exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army. The Beetle was shipped from Bremerhaven, arriving in New York this day.Copies of the bill of sale as well as the shipping documents and a letter from the Port of New York confirming the arrival of the VW can be found in Hennessy’s book "The Bride and the Beetle".

The United States grants France a military base in Casablanca.

In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with large loss of civilian lives.

The worst-ever train crash in Japan kills 184 people.

The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined American and Filipino ground troops.

The German garrison in Poznań capitulates to Red Army and Polish troops.

The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment c.

Battle of Iwo Jima: A group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo, "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" (taken by Joe Rosenthal), later wins a Pulitzer Prize.

American and Filipino troops enter Intramuros, Manila.

Turkey joins the war on the allies side.

WWII: The Chechens and Ingush are forcibly deported to Central Asia.

A fire at St. Joseph's Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, kills 36 people (35 of whom are children).

The Japanese submarine \'\'I-17\'\' fires 17 high-explosive shells toward an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.

Glenn T. Seaborg isolates and discovers plutonium.

Léopold III becomes King of Belgium.

The U.S. Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies.

Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar.

Albert Einstein visits Barcelona, Spain, at the invitation of scientist Esteban Terradas i Illa.

The "USS Connecticut" is decommissioned.

March ndash "Antigone" by Jean Cocteau appears on a Paris stage (settings by Pablo Picasso, music by Arthur Honegger, and costumes by Gabrielle Chanel). Antonin Artaud plays the part of Tiresias.

Rotary International is founded.

For $10 million, the United States gains control of the Panama Canal Zone.

Cuba leases Guantanamo Bay to the United States in perpetuity.

Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine.

The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000 along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

A British executioner fails to hangJohn 'Babbacombe' Lee. Lee, sentenced for the murder of Emma Keyse, has his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.

Walter Clopton Wingfield patents a game called sphairistike which is more commonly called lawn tennis.

Military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.

President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. after an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Alamo is surrounded by Santa Anna's army, in a 13-day ordeal.

The Cato Street conspiracy is exposed in England the principals are executed on May 1.

American Revolutionary War: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and begins to train the American troops.

Lorraine becomes French again on the death of Stanislaus I Leszczyński, King of Poland.

February ndash Ferocious wolf attacks occur in France, such as the Beast of Gévaudan or Wolves of Périgord.

The Berbice Slave Uprising starts in the former Dutch colony of Berbice.

While the Massachusetts Council debates how to handle the Christian Indians they had exiled to Deer Island on October 13, 1675, a coalition of Indians led by Metacomet attacks colonial settlements just outside of Boston.

In England, the Humble Petition and Advice offers Lord Protector Cromwell the crown.

The fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France.

French-Spanish Wars in Italy ndash Battle of Ruvo: The Spanish defeat the French.

The Gutenberg Bible is the first book printed with movable type.

Brahmagupta writes the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, an early, yet very advanced, math book.

Khosrau II of Persia is overthrown. His son Kavadh II rules as his successor until October.

Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople ndash the Hagia Sophia. He chooses Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles as architects. The material for the construction is brought from all over the empire ndash such as Hellenistic columns from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and large stones from quarries in porphyry from Egypt. More than 10,000 people are employed.

An Ding Wang commits suicide and is succeeded by Xiao Wu Di as Chinese emperor of Northern Wei.

September ndash Justinian I signs a peace treaty, the Eternal Peace, with the Persian king Khosrau I, ending the Iberian War. Both sides agree to return all occupied territories and Justinian makes a one-off payment of 110 "centenaria" (11,000 pounds of gold), as a contribution to the defense of the Caucasus passes.

First year in which the Anno Domini calendar is used for numbering the years.

Silla conquers the city-state of Geumgwan Gaya (Korea) during the Three Kingdoms Period.

The Franks under command of king Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I, invade the kingdom of Burgundy. They defeat the Burgundians under king Godomar near Autun (modern France).