Today is Thursday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2006. There are 311 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima capture Mount Suribachi, where they raise the

Today is Thursday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2006. There are 311 days left in the year. On this date in 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima capture Mount Suribachi, where they raise the American flag.
In 1822, Boston is granted a charter to incorporate as a city. In 1836, the siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio. In 1847, U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican Gen. Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico. In 1848, the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, dies of a stroke at age 80. In 1861, President-elect Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington to take office, an assassination plot having been foiled in Baltimore. In 1870, Mississippi is readmitted to the Union.
February 23, 1981: Youngstown public school teachers defy Judge Clyde Osborne's back-to-work order and remain on the picket line at the beginning of a new school week.
General Motors Corp.'s Packard Electric Division ships its first electrical harnesses for the new J-car that will be produced in Lordstown and Southgate, Calif.
Darrell Waltrip, the first of an up-and-coming group of young Nascar drivers to win a major NASCAR race, holds off a late-race challenge by veteran Richard Petty and wins the Richmond 400 at Richmond, Va. Petty had won the Daytona 500 a week earlier and was the fan favorite; Waltrip's victory was greeted with booing.
February 23, 1966: Six women are killed and 10 other workers are injured when an explosion rips through a fireworks plant at the Keystone Manufacturing Co. at Dunbar, Pa.
Billy Kyle, 53, pianist for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, dies in South Side Hospital of complications that developed from bleeding ulcers. Kyle became ill while performing at Stambaugh Auditorium.
The Rev. William H. DuBay, a 31-year-old Catholic priest in Santa Monica, initiates an organizing drive aimed at unionizing the nation's 58,000 priests. He is seeking an AFL-CIO charter.
February 23, 1956: International Track Inc., a newly formed manufacturing company, is going into business in New Castle to manufacture parts for tractor equipment.
William O. Brown Jr., president of The Youngstown Vindicator, dies at his home in Boardman-Poland Road at 89. He had been associated with the newspaper for 54 years and had a serious heart ailment for several years.
A cold snap produces a record low for Feb. 22 at Youngstown Municipal Airport of 9 degrees.
February 23, 1931: Irene Shrader, and Glenn Dague go calmly to their deaths in Pennsylvania's electric chair, paying for the murder of state police Cpl. Brady Paul near New Castle, Pa., following a robbery in Butler. Irene slept most of the night, ate a hearty breakfast and walked to the chair without assistance promptly at 7 a.m. She was pronounced dead at 7:05. Dague was strapped into the chair three minutes later.
The U.S. Department of Justice drops its investigation into the death of Youngstown jeweler Henry Sammartino aboard the steamship Pennsylvania in the Pacific Ocean, saying it is satisfied that the captain's initial ruling of suicide was correct. Investigators said Sammartino died from hanging and that the fractured skull discovered by a Youngstown coroner was incurred after death.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.