February 24

• February 24, 303
  First official Roman edict for the Great Persecution of Christians and Manicheans is issued by Emperor Diocletian
• February 24, 1272
  Jacob, an Italian-Jewish trader, departed in haste from Zaitun, China
• February 24, 1525
  The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the battle of Pavia in Italy during Italian War of 1521–26, making Spain dominant power in Italy
• February 24, 1538
  King Ferdinand of Austria and King John Zipolya of Hungary sign Treaty of Nagyrad dividing the medieval Kingdom of Hungary
• February 24, 1582
  Pope Gregory XIII issues a papal bull, or edict, outlining his calendar reforms, because the old Julian Calendar has an error rate of one day in every 128 years
• February 24, 1744
  French attempt to restart the Jacobite rebellion fails due to one of the worst storms of the century
• February 24, 1821
  Mexico rebels proclaim the Plan de Iguala, their declaration of independence from Spain, and take over the mission lands in California
• February 24, 1836
  Winslow Homer, American painter, is born
• February 24, 1839
  Steam shovel is patented by William Otis, Philadelphia
• February 24, 1881
  De Lesseps' Company begins work on Panama Canal
• February 24, 1895
  Cuban War for Independence, which results in Cuban independence from Spain, begins
• February 24, 1918
  Estonia declares independence from Russia
• February 24, 1924
  Mahatma Gandhi is released from jail having served only two of six years imprisonment for sedition
• February 24, 1949
  WAC Corporal, the first sounding rocket developed in the United States, used a German V-2 rocket acting as first stage, becomes the first rocket to outer space, White Sands, New Mexico
• February 24, 1986
  Voyager 2, an American space probe, performs first Uranus fly-by and makes the first close up images of the planet Uranus
• February 24, 1991
  United States and allies begin a ground war assault on Iraqi troops in Kuwait
• February 24, 2004
  A 6.5 Richter scale earthquake in Northern Morocco hits in the Rif mountains near the city of Al Hoceima, killing 400. Ait Kamara is destroyed; 517 are killed
• February 24, 2006
  A state of emergency is declared in the Philippines, after an alleged coup against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is foiled

February 23

• February 23, 155
  Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna, is arrested and burned at stake
• February 23, 1100
  Emperor Huizong, a calligrapher, painter and promoter of Taoism, begins to rule over China
• February 23, 1516
  The Hapsburg Charles I is proclaimed king of Aragon and Castile after the death of his grandfather Ferdinand II
• February 23, 1530
  Spain's King Carlos I is crowned Holy Roman Emperor Charles V by Pope Clement VII in the last coronation of a German king by a Pope
• February 23, 1574
  The 5th War of Religion, against the Huguenots, breaks out in France
• February 23, 1615
  The Estates-General in Paris are dissolved, having been in session since October 1614
• February 23, 1660
  Charles XI becomes king of Sweden after death of his father Charles X Gustav of a stroke
• February 23, 1685
  George Frideric Handel, composer and musician, is born in Halle, Germany
• February 23, 1689
  Protestant Dutch prince William III ascends to the throne over England, Scotland, and Ireland after King James II, Catholics protector, escape during England's Glorious Revolution
• February 23, 1820
  Cato Street Conspiracy, an attempt to murder all the British cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, is uncovered
• February 23, 1847
  American major general Zachary Taylor defeats Mexican General Antonio Loіpez de Santa Anna and Mexican army at the battle of Buena Vista, Mexico
• February 23, 1848
  Revolution of 1848 begins in France resulting in King Louis-Philippe's abdication, the establishment of the Second French Republic and spread of revolutionary movements throughout Europe
• February 23, 1854
  Great Britain and Orange Free state sign Convention of Bloemfontein, by which the independence of the Orange Free State is recognized
• February 23, 1893
  Rudolf Diesel, a German mechanical engineer, is granted a patent for the invention of the diesel engine, an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition
• February 23, 1987
  Supernova 1987A, the first naked-eye supernova since 1604, first seen in Large Magellanic Cloud
• February 23, 1998
  Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa, declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders, which declared the killing of North Americans and their allies
• February 23, 2002
  Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia kidnaps Oxygen Green Party presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who is traveling in Colombian territory
• February 23, 2008
  Microsoft announces it will cease making HD DVD players for the Xbox 360