February 14th in History

Michael Dobson | February 14

This Day in History

  • The Strasbourg Massacre, an early pogrom, takes place (1349)
  • Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each submit patent applications for the telephone (1876)
  • The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (1918)
  • The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre takes place in Chicago (1929)
  • The bombing of Dresden enters its second day (1945)
  • Jackie Kennedy gives a televised tour of the White House (1962)
  • A fatwa is issued against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie (1989)
  • YouTube is launched (2005)

Birthdays

  • Babur, founded the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent (1483)
  • George Ferris, inventor of the Ferris Wheel (1859)
  • John Barrymore, actor (1882)
  • Jack Benny, comedian (1894)
  • Jimmy Hoffa, labor leader (1913)
  • Woody Hayes, football coach (1913)
  • Mel Allen, sportscaster (1913)
  • Edward Platt, Get Smart chief (1916)
  • Hugh Downs, broadcaster (1921)
  • Murray the K, disc jockey (1922)
  • Lois Maxwell, “Miss Moneypenny” (1927)
  • Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, hockey player credited as one of the inventors of the slap shot (1931)
  • Madhubala, “Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood” (1933)
  • Florence Henderson, actress (1934)
  • Carl Bernstein, journalist (1944)
  • Gregory Hines, dancer (1946)
  • Teller, stage magician (1948)

Deaths

  • Saint Cyril, developed the predecessor to the Cyrillic alphabet (869)
  • Richard II, English monarch (1400)
  • Captain James Cook, explorer (1779)
  • William Blackstone, jurist (1780)
  • William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War Union general (1891)
  • Vito Genovese, crime boss (1969)
  • P. G. Wodehouse, creator of Jeeves (1975)
  • James Bond, ornithologist whose name was chosen by Ian Fleming for his fictional spy (1989)
  • Buddy Knox, wrote and performed “Party Doll” (1999)
  • John Ehrlichman, Watergate figure (1999)
  • Dick Francis, mystery writer (2010)

Holidays

  • Lui Ngai Ni (Naga people, India)
  • National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day (US food holidays)
  • St. Cyril and Methodius Day (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Singles Awareness Day (worldwide)
  • Statehood Day (Arizona, Oregon)
  • V-Day (international)
  • Valentine’s Day