February 23: The Emperor's Birthday in Japan (1960)Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels1725 J.S. Bach first performed his Shepherd Cantata for the birthday of Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (pictured).1854 The Orange River Convention was signed in Bloemfontein, with the United Kingdom agreeing to recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in present-day South Africa.1886 American inventor Charles Martin Hall discovered an inexpensive method of producing aluminium.1987 SN1987A, the first supernova that modern astronomers were able to study in great detail, was observed from Earth occurring in the Large Magellanic Cloud.2021 Riots in four Ecuadorian prisons, caused by gang rivalries, resulted in the deaths of 79 inmates.al-Zafir (b.1133)Allan MacLeod Cormack (b.1924)Edward Elgar (d.1934)Shiena Nishizawa (b.1997)More anniversaries: February 22February 23February 24ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout