February 23: The Emperor's Birthday in Japan1778 – American Revolutionary War: Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania as a volunteer for the Continental Army.
1854 – The Orange River Convention was signed in Bloemfontein, with Britain agreeing to recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in present-day South Africa.
1945 – Second World War: An Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany, killed approximately 31 percent of its population and destroyed about 83 percent of its buildings.
2007 – A Virgin express train derailed (accident scene pictured) near Grayrigg in North West England, killing one person and seriously injuring thirty others.
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