February 14
February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 320 days remain until the end of the year (321 in leap years).
February 14 is internationally known as Valentine's Day, named after the 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.
- 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 were 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 was 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 was 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 & Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) led 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 which 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.
- 1854 - Texas linked by telegraph with the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
- 1859 - Oregon 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.
- 1886 - First trainload of oranges left Los Angeles via the transcontinental railroad.
- 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 Dept. of Commerce and Dept. of Labor).
- 1912 - Arizona 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 (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 - On the second day of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II 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 - Bombing of Prague - 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 - Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans.
- 1946 - The Bank of England is nationalized.
- 1949 - The Knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.
- 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 starts in Moscow. On the last night of the meeting, Premier Nikita Khruschev condemns Josef 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 is placed into orbit.
- 1990 - 92 people are killed aboarad Indian Airlines Flight 605 at Bangalore, India.
- 1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, a Russian serial killer was executed by shooting.
- 1996 - China launches a Long March 3 rocket, carrying the Intelsat 708 satellite. The rocket flew off course 3 seconds after liftoff and crashed 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 Cedar Revolution (Intifada of Independence).
- 2005 - Seven people were 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.
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)
- 1766 - Thomas Malthus, English economist (d. 1834)
- 1788 - Fernando Sor, Spanish composer (d. 1839)
- 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)
- 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)
- 1869 - Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1959)
- 1871 - Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (d. 1959)
- 1884 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, missionary (d. 1972)
- 1884 - Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet (d. 1974)
- 1884 or 1885 - Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1952)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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 - 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
- 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 - Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler
- 1971 - Noriko Sakai, Japanese singer
- 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 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
- 1978 - Dean Gaffney, British actor
- 1978 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
- 1978 - Darius Songaila, basketball player
- 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
- 1984 - Hamed Namouchi, Tunisian footballer
- 1985 - Karima Adebibe, Moroccan-English actress and model
- 1985 - Tyler Clippard, American baseball player
- 1985 - Heart Evangelista, Pinay celebrity
- 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, Filipino actress
- 1987 - Joseph Pichler, American actor
- 1987 - Julia Savicheva, Russian singer
- 1987 - David Wheater, English footballer
- 1988 - Ángel Di María, Argentine soccer player
- 1988 - Eliska Sursova, Spanish American actress
- 1992 - Freddie Highmore, English 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)
- 1945 - Mordecai Brown, baseball player (b. 1876)
- 1949 - Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
- 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)
- 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)
- 1994 - Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (executed) (b. 1936)
- 1995 - U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907)
- 1995 - Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (b. 1923)
- 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, Candian 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 - St. Valentine's Day.
- Norway - Ballantine's Day.
- Iraq - 'Communist Martyrs Day' celebrated by Iraqi Communist Party.
Liturgical feasts
- Europe/Catholicism - Feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe.
- Saint Abraham (d. 422)
- Saint Valentine (d. 422).
- February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)