| 20611 | February 23 | Event | 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg. |
| 20612 | February 23 | Event | 1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the California coastline near Santa Barbara. |
| 20613 | February 23 | Event | 1943 – A fire breaks out at St. Joseph's Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 36 people (35 of whom are children). |
| 20614 | February 23 | Event | 1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded is Greece. |
| 20615 | February 23 | Event | 1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia. |
| 20616 | February 23 | Event | 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. |
| 20617 | February 23 | Event | 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños internment camp. |
| 20618 | February 23 | Event | 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces. |
| 20619 | February 23 | Event | 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces. |
| 20620 | February 23 | Event | 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers. |
| 20621 | February 23 | Event | 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded. |
| 20622 | February 23 | Event | 1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh. |
| 20623 | February 23 | Event | 1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). |
| 20624 | February 23 | Event | 1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio. |
| 20625 | February 23 | Event | 1966 – In Syria, Ba'ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist. |
| 20626 | February 23 | Event | 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst. |
| 20627 | February 23 | Event | 1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. |
| 20628 | February 23 | Event | 1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies. |
| 20629 | February 23 | Event | 1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri. |
| 20630 | February 23 | Event | 1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud. |
| 20631 | February 23 | Event | 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war. |
| 20632 | February 23 | Event | 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. |
| 20633 | February 23 | Event | 1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42. |
| 20634 | February 23 | Event | 1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey. |
| 20635 | February 23 | Event | 1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31. |
| 20636 | February 23 | Event | 2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the "positive values of colonialism". After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006. |
| 20637 | February 23 | Event | 2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents. |
| 20638 | February 23 | Event | 2008 – A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2. |
| 20639 | February 23 | Event | 2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster. |
| 20640 | February 23 | Event | 2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured. |