Famous people born on February 23 — and what else happened that day
If your birthday is February 23, you share it with George Frideric Handel, W.E.B. Du Bois, Emily Blunt — and you were born under Pisces, the sign of the imaginative, empathetic, and a little bit magic.
Birthday basics for February 23
Pisces ♓
Zodiac sign
Amethyst
Birthstone
Violet
Birth flower
54th
Day of the year
February 23 is the 54th day of the year, with 311 days still to come.
Famous people born on February 23
George Frideric Handel — Baroque composer of Messiah and Water Music (born 1685).
W.E.B. Du Bois — Sociologist, historian, and co-founder of the NAACP (born 1868).
Emily Blunt — British actor known for The Devil Wears Prada and A Quiet Place (born 1983).
Also sharing the day:
Peter Fonda (b. 1940) — Oscar-nominated actor and co-writer of Easy Rider.
Aziz Ansari (b. 1983) — comedian and star of Parks and Recreation and Master of None.
Dakota Fanning (b. 1994) — actor known for I Am Sam, War of the Worlds, and The Runaways.
February 23 in history
1945 — U.S. Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
1836 — The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.
1991 — Coalition forces launched the ground offensive of Operation Desert Storm.
1903 — Cuba leased Guantánamo Bay to the United States under the Cuban–American Treaty.
1947 — The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was founded in London.
1954 — The first mass trial of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine began on schoolchildren in Pittsburgh.
February 23 birthday questions
What zodiac sign is February 23?
Anyone born on February 23 is a Pisces — imaginative, empathetic, and a little bit magic.
What is the birthstone for February 23?
The birthstone for a February 23 birthday is Amethyst, and the birth flower is the Violet.
Who is the most famous person born on February 23?
George Frideric Handel is among the best known — Baroque composer of Messiah and Water Music (born 1685).
What happened on February 23?
In 1945, U.S. Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
What day of the year is February 23?
February 23 is the 54th day of the year, with 311 days still to come.
Make their day unforgettable
Know someone born on February 23? See the full story of their exact birthday — the headlines, the #1 song, what things cost — and turn it into a personalized front-page newspaper they can keep.