February 14

February 14 is internationally known as Valentine's Day, named after Saint Valentinus of Terni, in Italy, executed in 270.

Events

* 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
* 1009 - First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
*1014 - Pope Benedict VIII recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany.
*1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
*1349 - Approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg.
*1556 - Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
*1743 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister.
*1778 - The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS "Ranger", commanded by John Paul Jones.
*1779 - James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
*1797 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.
*1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void.
*1804 - Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
*1831 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
*1835 - The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
*1849 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
*1855 - Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
*1859 - Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
*1876 - Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
*1879 - The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
*1899 - Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
*1900 - Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
* 1900 - Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.
*1903 - The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into Department of Commerce and Department of Labor).
*1912 - Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.
* 1912 - In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned.
* 1918 - The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).
*1919 - The Polish-Soviet War begins.
*1920 - The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
*1924 - The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is founded.
*1929 - St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.
*1942 - Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
*1943 - World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
* 1943 - World War II: Battle of the Kasserine Pass - German General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps launch an offensive against Allied defenses in Tunisia.
*1944 - World War II: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
*1945 - World War II: On the second day of the bombing of Dresden , the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony.
* 1945 - World War II: Prague is bombed probably due to a mistake in the orientation of the pilots bombing Dresden.
* 1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS "Quincy", officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship.
* 1945 - World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans.
*1946 - The Bank of England is nationalized.
*1949 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.
* 1949 - The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
*1956 - The XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union begins in Moscow. On the last night of the meeting, Premier Nikita Khrushchev condemns Joseph Stalin's crimes in a secret speech.
*1961 - Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
*1962 - First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.
*1966 - Australian currency is decimalised.
*1979 - In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
*1981 - Stardust Disaster: A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people
*1983 - United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher is later convicted of fraud.
*1989 - Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
* 1989 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of "The Satanic Verses", Salman Rushdie.
* 1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit.
*1990 - 92 people are killed aboard Indian Airlines Flight 605 at Bangalore, India.
*1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, a Russian serial killer is executed by shooting.
*1996 - China launches a Long March 3 rocket, carrying the Intelsat 708 satellite. The rocket flies off course 3 seconds after liftoff and crashes into a rural village.
*1998 - Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing.
*2000 - The spacecraft "NEAR Shoemaker" enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
*2002 - "The Tullaghmurray Lass" sinks off the coast of Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland killing three members of the same family on board.
*2004 - In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.
*2005 - Lebanon's former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, is assassinated, prompting the country to fall into chaos.
* 2005 - Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines' Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City.
* 2008 - Northern Illinois University shooting: a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall of the DeKalb County, Illinois university resulting in 24 casualties; 6 fatalities (including gunman) and 18 injured.

Births

*1404 - Leone Battista Alberti, Italian painter and philosopher (d. 1472)
*1468 - Johann Werner, German mathematician (d. 1522)
*1483 - Babur, Moghul emperor of India (d. 1530)
*1602 - Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)
*1680 - John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English privy councillor (d. 1737)
*1692 - Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (d. 1754)
*1701 - Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (d. 1773)
*1763 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)
*1788 - Fernando Sor, Spanish composer (d. 1839)
*1800 - Emory Washburn, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877)
*1812 - Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (d. 1846)
*1819 - Joshua A. Norton, American eccentric (d. 1880)
* 1819 - Christopher Sholes, American inventor (d. 1890)
*1824 - Winfield Scott Hancock, American Civil War Union general (d. 1886)
*1828 - Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (d. 1885)
*1838 - Margaret Knight, American inventor, famous as female Thomas Edison, (d. 1914)
*1846 - Julian Scott, American artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. (d. 1901)
*1847 - Anna Howard Shaw, American suffragette (d. 1919)
* 1847 - Maria Pia of Italy, queen of Portugal (d. 1911)
*1848 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934)
*1856 - Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (d. 1931)
*1859 - George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., engineer and inventor (d. 1896)
*1860 - Eugen Schiffer, German politician (d. 1954)
*1869 - Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1959)
*1871 - Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (d. 1959)
*1884 - Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor, film director (d. 1947)
* 1884 - Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1952)
* 1884 - Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet (d. 1974)
* 1884 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, missionary (d. 1972)
*1885 - Syed Zafarul Hasan, Prominent Muslim Indian/Pakistani philosopher (d. 1949)
*1890 - Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (d. 1956)
*1892 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander (d. 1948)
*1894 - Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)
*1895 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
*1898 - Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)
*1902 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (d. 1969)
*1903 - Stu Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
*1904 - Charles Oatley, Professor of electrical engineering, (scanning electron microscope), (d. 1996)
*1904 - Hertta Kuusinen, Finnish communist (d. 1974)
*1912 - Tibor Sekelj, Croatian explorer (d. 1988)
*1913 - Mel Allen, American sports reporter (d. 1996)
* 1913 - Woody Hayes, American college football coach (d. 1987)
* 1913 - Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (disappeared 1975)
*1914 - Margarete Mewes, Nazi overseer at concentration camp
* 1914 - Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (d. 2007)
*1916 - Marcel Bigeard, French general
* 1916 - Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director (d. 1996)
* 1916 - Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)
*1917 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, Nobel Prize Laureate
*1921 - Hugh Downs, American television host
*1922 - Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey (d. 1982)
*1927 - Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (d. 2007)
*1929 - Vic Morrow, American actor (d. 1982)
*1931 - Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (d. 2006)
* 1931 - Brian Kelly, American actor (d. 2005)
* 1931 - Phyllis McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)
*1932 - Alexander Kluge, German actor and film director
*1933 - Madhubala, Indian actress (d. 1969)
*1934 - Michel Corboz, Swiss conductor
* 1934 - Florence Henderson, American actress
*1936 - Fanne Foxe, Argentine dancer and focus of a 1974 scandal involving Congressman Wilbur Mills.
* 1936 - Andrew Prine, American actor
*1941 - Donna Shalala, American educator
* 1941 - Paul Tsongas, United States Senator from Massachusetts (d. 1997)
*1942 - Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City
* 1942 - Andrew Robinson, American actor
* 1942 - Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (d. 1962)
*1943 - Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)
* 1943 - Aaron Russo, American movie producer (d. 2007)
*1944 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist
* 1944 - Alan Parker, British film director and writer
*1944 - Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (d. 1978)
*1945 - Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
*1946 - Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
* 1946 - Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003)
*1947 - Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1975)
* 1947 - Judd Gregg, American politician, senior senator from New Hampshire
*1948 - Pat O'Brien, American sportscaster and television host
* 1948 - Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)
*1950 - Roger Fisher, American musician (Heart)
*1951 - Kevin Keegan, English footballer
* 1951 - JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater
*1952 - Nancy Keenan, current NARAL president
*1955 - Ronald Desruelles, Belgian athlete
* 1955 - James Eckhouse, American actor
* 1955 - Carol Kalish, American publishing executive (d. 1991)
* 1955 - Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler
*1957 - Alan Hunter, one of the original MTV VJs
* 1957 - Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano
*1958 - Enrique Mansilla, Argentine racing driver
* 1958 - Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
*1959 - Renée Fleming, American soprano
*1960 - Jim Kelly, American football player
* 1960 - Meg Tilly, Canadian actress
*1961 - Phillip Hamilton, American author
* 1961 - Latifa, Tunisian singer
*1962 - Kevyn Aucoin, American cosmetologist (d. 2002)
* 1962 - Michael Higgs, English actor
* 1962 - Philippe Sella, French rugby player
* 1962 - Sakina Jaffrey, Indian actress
*1963 - Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor
*1964 - Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist
* 1964 - Zach Galligan, American actor
*1966 - Petr Svoboda, National Hockey League player
*1967 - Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
* 1967 - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, British entrepreneur
*1968 - Jules Asner, American television personality
*1969 - Adriana Behar, Brazilian beach volleyball player
* 1969 - Harry Colon, American football player
*1970 - Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist
* 1970 - Simon Pegg, British comedian and actor
*1971 - Kris Aquino, Filipino Actress and TV Host
* 1971 - Noriko Sakai, Japanese singer
* 1971 - Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler
*1972 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player
* 1972 - Big Daddy V, American professional wrestler
* 1972 - Hiroshi, Japanese comedian
* 1972 - Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress
* 1972 - Rob Thomas, American musician (Matchbox Twenty)
*1973 - Steve McNair, American football player
*1974 - Filippa Giordano, Italian singer
* 1974 - Philippe Léonard, Belgian footballer
*1975 - Scott Owen, Australian musician (The Living End)
* 1975 - Yul Kwon, American Survivor contestant
*1976 - Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer (Leaves' Eyes)
*1977 - Darren Bennett, a Professional Latin Ballroom Dancer
* 1977 - Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist
* 1977 - Darren Purse, English footballer
* 1977 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
*1978 - Dean Gaffney, British actor
* 1978 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
* 1978 - Darius Songaila, basketball player
* 1978 - Dwele, American R&B/Soul singer
*1979 - Pablo Pallante, Uruguayan footballer
*1980 - Fátima Leyva, Mexican footballer
* 1980 - Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress
* 1980 - Josh Senter, American screenwriter
*1982 - Marián Gáborík, Slovak hockey player
*1983 - Bacary Sagna, French footballer
*1983 - Rhydian Roberts, Welsh Singer, X factor Runner Up
*1984 - Hamed Namouchi, Tunisian footballer
*1985 - Karima Adebibe, Moroccan-English actress and model
* 1985 - Tyler Clippard, American baseball player
* 1985 - Heart Evangelista, Filipina singer, TV and movie actress
* 1985 - Natsume Sano, Japanese gravure idol
* 1985 - Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer
* 1985 - Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress
*1986 - Michael Ammermüller, German racing driver
* 1986 - Roxanne Guinoo, Filipina actress
* 1986 - Aschwin Wildeboer, Spanish swimmer
*1987 - Joseph Pichler, American actor
* 1987 - Julia Savicheva, Russian singer
* 1987 - David Wheater, English footballer
*1988 - Ángel Di María, Argentine footballer
* 1988 - Asia Nitollano, American dancer, winner
* 1988 - Eliska Sursova, American actress
* 1988 - Quentin Mosimann, Swiss singer, winner of Star Academy France 7
*1992 - Freddie Highmore, English actor
*1994 - Paul Butcher, American actor

Deaths

* 270 - St. Valentine marking Valentines Day (some sources say 269, others 273).
* 869 - Saint Cyril, Greek monk, scholar, theologian and linguist (b. 827)
*1317 - Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282)
*1400 - King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)
*1405 - Timur, Mongol conqueror (b. 1336)
*1571 - Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517)
*1676 - Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist
*1714 - Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen Consort of Spain (b. 1688)
*1737 - Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
*1744 - John Hadley, inventor (b. 1682)
*1779 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)
*1780 - William Blackstone, English jurist (b. 1723)
*1808 - John Dickinson, American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania (b. 1732)
*1831 - Vicente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero (b. 1782)
* 1831 - Henry Maudslay, English inventor (b. 1771)
*1870 - St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General (b. 1815)
*1881 - Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812)
*1885 - Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)
*1891 - William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General (b. 1820)
*1894 - Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (b. 1814)
*1922 - Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (assassinated) (b. 1880)
*1929 - Tom Burke, American runner (b. 1875)
*1942 - Adnan Bin Saidi, Officer of the Malay Regiment killed in the defense of Singapore (b. 1915)
*1943 - Dora Gerson, German actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (b. 1899)
* 1943 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)
*1948 - Mordecai Brown, American baseball player (b. 1876)
*1949 - Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
*1950 - Karl Guthe Jansky, American Discoverer of cosmic radio waves (b. 1905)
*1952 - Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
*1958 - Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899)
*1959 - Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (b. 1898)
*1967 - Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
*1969 - Vito Genovese, American gangster (b. 1897)
*1970 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880).
*1974 - Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1903)
*1975 - Julian Huxley, British biologist (b. 1887)
* 1975 - P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)
*1978 - Paul Governali, American professional football player (b. 1921)
*1979 - Adolph Dubs, American diplomat (b. 1920)
*1980 - Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
*1983 - Lina Radke, German athlete (b. 1903)
*1987 - Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky, Russian composer (b. 1904)
* 1987 - Karolos Koun, Greek theater director (b. 1908)
*1988 - Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)
*1989 - James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)
*1990 - Tony Holiday, German singer
*1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (executed) (b. 1936)
*1995 - U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907)
* 1995 - Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (b. 1923)
*1996 - Bob Paisley, English football manager (b. 1919)
*1999 - John Ehrlichman, American presidential advisor (b. 1925)
* 1999 - Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (b. 1933)
*2002 - Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
*2003 - Dolly, first cloned mammal (b. 1996)
* 2003 - Johnny Longden, English jockey (b. 1907)
*2004 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)
*2005 - Najai Turpin, American boxer
* 2005 - Rafik Hariri, Lebanese politician and billionaire businessman (b. 1944)
*2006 - Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)
* 2006 - Lynden David Hall, British singer (b. 1974)
* 2006 - Darry Cowl, French musician and actor (b. 1925)
*2007 - Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920)
* 2007 - Ryan Larkin, Canadian animated film maker. (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

*Bulgaria - Trifon Zarezan (Wine-grower’s Day)
*Mexico - Day of National Mourning (1831).
*Arizona - Admission Day (1912).
*Oregon - Admission Day (1859).
*Western World - Valentine's Day.
*Iraq - 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party.
* Europe/Catholicism - Feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe.
* Saint Valentine (d. 422).
* February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14 BBC: On This Day]
*
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Feb&day=14 On this day in Canada] ----