Under Wednesday, February 23, the book of history records among other things:
302: The Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to persecute Christians.
1582: A goalie dies in an accident at a football match in Essex, England.
1922: In Dresden, Gerhart Hauptmann’s play “The Victim” (Indipohdi) is premiered, directed by the poet.
1937: Hitler gives the guarantee to respect the inviolability and neutrality of Switzerland.
1942: Japanese submarines shell American oil refineries near Santa Barbara, California.
1942: The Austrian storyteller Stefan Zweig commits suicide with his wife in Petropolis near Rio de Janeiro because of the “destruction of intellectual Europe”.
1982: In a referendum, 52 percent of Greenland voters decide to leave the European Union.
1987: The murder trial against the ex-racing driver Tibor Foco and two co-defendants begins. Foco is also accused of pimping and illegal gun possession.
1987: Astronomers in Chile and New Zealand are independently discovering a celestial phenomenon about 150,000 light-years away that is a so-called “supernova” (stellar explosion) explosion. The resulting new supernova (SN 1987A) is one of the most studied astronomical objects.
1987: The Soviet writer Boris Pasternak is posthumously reinstated in the Soviet Union of Writers in the course of cultural and political liberalization.
1997: In the presence of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the EU foreign ministers sign an association agreement that is intended to enable the economic development of the Palestinian self-governing areas.
2002: Colombian presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt was kidnapped by left-wing FARC guerrillas and freed by Colombian forces on July 2, 2008, along with 14 other hostages, in a bloodless operation.
birthdays: Sir George Frederic Watts painter and sculptor (1817-1904); Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (1842-1906); John Benson Brooks, US composer (1917-1999); Ilse Hollweg, German soprano (1922-1990); Régine Crespin, French opera singer (1927-2007); Estelle, Princess of Sweden (2012).
days of death: Sir Joshua Reynold, English painter (1723-1792); Gaspard Mermillod, Switzerland. Cardinal (1824-1892); Stefan Zweig, Austria writer (1881-1942); Robert Katscher, Austria composer and lyricist (1894-1942); Sabine Oberhauser, Austria Politician; Minister of Health 2014-2017 (1963-2017).
name days: Otto, Polycarp, Willigis, Romana, Severinus, Reinhard, Rupert, Martha, Lazarus, Nikolaus.