Today’s highlight

On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of schoolchildren against polio using the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students were vaccinated.

On this date

1822: Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.

1836: The siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.

1942: The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.

1945: During World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags (the second flag-raising was captured in the iconic Associated Press photograph.)

2007: A Mississippi grand jury refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was beaten and shot after being accused of whistling at a white woman, declining to indict the woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, for manslaughter.

Today’s birthdays

Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff is 80. Author John Sandford is 79. Actor Patricia Richardson is 72. Former NFL player Ed “Too Tall” Jones is 72. Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 71. Actor Kristin Davis is 58. Former tennis player Helena Sukova is 58. Actor Marc Price is 55. TV personality/businessman Daymond John (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 54. Actor Josh Gad is 42. Actor Emily Blunt is 40. Actor Aziz Ansari is 40. Actor Tye White (TV: “Greenleaf”) is 37. Actor Dakota Fanning is 29.

The Associated Press