February 14
February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 320 days remaining, 321 in leap years.
Events:
- 1076: Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV.
- 1689: William and Mary named king and queen of England.
- 1849: James Polk is the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
- 1859: Oregon becomes a state.
- 1876: Alexander Bell applies for a patent for the telephone.
- 1895: First showing of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnest.
- 1899: Voting machines approved in United States federal elections.
- 1912: Arizona becomes a state.
- 1918: The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1 February according to the Julian calendar)
- 1920: The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
- 1924: IBM corporation founded.
- 1929: St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven gangsters rivalling Al Capone are murdered.
- 1943: Rostov liberated.
- 1944: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
- 1945: Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru join the United Nations.
- 1946: Bank of England nationalized.
- 1949: The knesset (Israeli parliament) first convenes.
- 1961: The element 103 Lawrencium is first produced.
- 1989: Ayatollah Khomeini calls for the killing of Salman Rushdie because of his novel The Satanic Verses.
- 1989: Union Carbide agrees to pay $470,000,000 for damages in the Bhopal disaster.
Births:
- 1483: Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah, founder of the Moghul dynasty
- 1766: Thomas Malthus, economist
- 1819: Joshua A. Norton, Emperor Norton I of the United States of America and Protector of Mexico
- 1869: Charles Wilson, physicist
- 1882: John Barrymore, actor
- 1916: Masaki Kobayashi, director
- 1944: Alan Parker, actor
- 1948: Teller, magician (Pen and Teller)
Deaths:
- 1400: Richard II, king of England (1377-1399), age 33 (murder)
- 1405: Timur Lenk (aka Tamerlane), Mongolian monarch and conqueror
- 1779: James Cook, explorer, age 50 (killed in a fight)
- 1831: Vincente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero
- 1943: David Hilbert, mathematician, age 81
Holidays and observances:
- Denmark: Gaekkebrev - gift exchange by school kids
- Mexico: Day of National Mourning (1831)
- Arizona: Admission Day (1912)
- Oregon: Admission Day (1859)
- international: Valentine's day
- Lupercalia
- Catholicism - Feast day of Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
February 13 - February 15 - January 14 - March 14 - more historical anniversaries
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December