Add html text to webcontrol Button in ASP codebehind file

Question

So I am looking for a way to add HTML text to a programmatically created button, or some other control that would accept HTML text and have a on_click_event to capture.

I have a table that I am building dynamically in the codebehind file based upon steps (attendance to a lesson, and the taking of a quiz) that are recorded as complete or incomplete in the database. If a step was not done, I entered a button with a simple X If the step was done, I just added HTML month and day to the cell.

Attendance to the lesson is a step that can be repeated, so I wanted to make the lesson button look like the styling of a completed quiz, but still capture a 2nd+ attendance point with a click_event.

I am stumped in making a dynamically created button work with my HTML styling. My text style on an ASP.net webcontrol button in a codebehind file is being interpreted as literal text on that button.

Here is the code that fills the cells, either creates the buttons, or adds the text

 if(lesson_completed == true)
 {
      DateTime date = Convert.ToDateTime(lesson);
      Button markNewDateComplete = new Button();//System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button Class
      markNewDateComplete.Text = "<font style='font-size:50%;color:silver;'>" + date.ToString("MMMM") + "</font><br><font style='color:light gray'>" + date.ToString("dd") + "<font>";
      markNewDateComplete.CssClass = "mybtn";
      markNewDateComplete.CommandName = lesson_detail_id.ToString();
      markNewDateComplete.Click += new EventHandler(this.NewDateLesson_Click);
      tc2x.Controls.Add(markNewDateComplete);
 }
 else
 {
     DateTime date = Convert.ToDateTime(quiz);
     tc2x.Text = "<font style='font-size:50%;color:silver;'>" + date.ToString("MMMM") + "</font><br><font style='color:light gray'>" + date.ToString("dd") + "<font>";
 }

Here is what the output looks like on-screen

There are many pages in SO that give insight how to do this in the regular ASPX page, but none that I could find to do this programmatically in a ASPX.cs codebehind file.

In programming there is always another way to do something; so I am looking for a way to add HTML text to a programmatically created button, or some other small control that would accept HTML text and have a on_click_event that I could use as a method back to SQL.

Example of what I want, but this is not for the codebehind file.
Font awesome inside asp button