Today in History - History - February 23rd

1979"The Deer Hunter", starring Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken, is released

1927Pres Calvin Coolidge creates Federal Radio Commission (FRC)

1909Russian Tsar Nicholas II dissolves Finnish Diet

1906Tommy Burns beats Marvin Hart in 20 for heavyweight boxing title

1910George Bernard Shaw's "Misalliance," premieres in London

303Emperor Diocletian begins policy of persecution of Christians razing church at Nicomedia

1968Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points

1985Goaltender Patrick Roy makes his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens

200042nd Grammy Awards: Smooth, Christina Aguilera wins

1919Fascist Party forms in Italy by Benito Mussolini

1685George Frideric Handel, Halle Germany, baroque composer and (Messiah, Water Music)

1889Victor Fleming, American director (Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind), (d. 1949)

1994Dakota Fanning, American actress

1949Marc Garneau, Quebec City Quebec, Canadian astronaut (STS 13, 77)

2003Actor Paul Rudd (33) weds publicist Julie Yaeger

2013Former "Married ... with Children" actress Christina Applegate (41) weds rocker Martyn LeNoble (43) in Los Angeles

1995James Herriot [Alfred Wight], Scottish author (All Creatures Great & Small), dies at 78

1855Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, dies

1821John Keats, Romantic poet, dies of tuberculosis at 25 in Rome

1848John Quincy Adams, 6th US President (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at 80