April 3

• April 3, 1024
  The Song Dynasty of China first prints paper money in Sichuan province, due to a shortage of copper for coinage
• April 3, 1043
  Edward the Confessor, the last king of the House of Wessex, is crowned king of England
• April 3, 1367
  Anglo-Gascon army under Edward the Black Prince beat Franco-Castilian forces at the Battle of Najara, in Spain
• April 3, 1559
  Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France sign the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties, and between England and France
• April 3, 1657
  English Lord Protector Cromwell refused the crown, which are offered by English Humble Petition
• April 3, 1796
  The first elephant is shipped to the US from Bengal, India, by Broadway showman Jacob Croninshield
• April 3, 1860
  The Pony Express, a mail system in United States, which assemble 120 riders, 184 stations, and 400 horses, starts
• April 3, 1897
  The Vienna Secession, a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, is founded by artists Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, and others
• April 3, 1948
  US President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan transferring US$5 billion aid to 16 European countries to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II
• April 3, 1973
  Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola company, demonstrates to the media the first mobile phone, Motorola DynaTAC, and makes the first portable cell phone call
• April 3, 1975
  Bobby Fischer is stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend
• April 3, 2000
  In the US Justice Department versus Microsoft anti-trust case, Judge Thomas Jackson rules that Microsoft acted illegally to protect its operating system monopoly, and used its monopoly position to attempt to monopolize the market for Web browser software

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