What happened on February 14? There are more than 332 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About February 14
February 14 is the 45th day of the year 2024. There are 321 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday. This day falls under the 7th week of the year 2024.
On this day in New Market, Indiana 47965 sunrise occured at 07:40 AM and sunset occured at 06:23 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Aquarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Amethyst while the mystical birthstone is Bloodstone.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 350 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For February 14
- 842Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.
- 1014Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1076Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1349Approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg.
- 1556Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.
- 1778The 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.
- 1779James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
- 1797French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent – John Jervis, (later 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.
- 1804Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
- 1831Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
- 1835The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.
- 1843The event that inspired the Beatles song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is held in England.
- 1849In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
- 1852Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital providing in-patient beds specifically for children in the English-speaking world, is founded in London.
- 1855Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.
- 1859Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
- 1876Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
- 1879The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.
- 1899Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.
- 1900Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.
- 1903The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into Department of Commerce and Department of Labor).
- 1912Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.
- 1912In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned.
- 1918The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).
- 1919The Polish-Soviet War begins.
- 1920The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
- 1924The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
- 1929Saint Valentine’s Day massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.
- 1934New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Wood Dog in Chinese astrology.
- 1942Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.
- 1943World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.
- 1943World War II: Tunisia Campaign – General Hans-Jurgen von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.
- 1944World War II: Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
- 1945President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially starting the U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relationship.
- 1945World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans.
- 1945World War II: On the first 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.
- 1945World War II: Prague is bombed probably due to a mistake in the orientation of the pilots bombing Dresden.
- 1946The Bank of England is nationalized.
- 1949The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.
- 1949The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.
- 1950Chinese Civil War: The National Revolutionary Army instigates the unsuccessful Battle of Tianquan against the People’s Liberation Army.
- 1956The 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.
- 1961Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
- 1962First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.
- 1966Australian currency is decimalised.
- 1979In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
- 1981Stardust Disaster: A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people
- 1983United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.
- 1989Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie.
- 1989Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
- 199092 people are killed aboard Indian Airlines Flight 605 at Bangalore, India.
- 1998An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil drops a lit cigarette, creating a massive explosion which kills 120.
- 2000The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
- 2004In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.
- 2005Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon Rafik Hariri is killed, along with 21 others, when explosives, equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT, are detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel in Beirut.
- 2005Seven 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.
- 2008Northern Illinois University shooting: a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall of the DeKalb County, Illinois university resulting in 6 fatalities (including gunman) and 18 injuries.
- 20112011 Bahraini uprising The 2011 Bahraini uprising, sometimes called the February 14 Revolution is a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil resistance, in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain
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Who Were Born On February 14?
- 1468Johann Werner, German mathematician (d. 1522)
- 1483Babur, Moghul emperor of India (d. 1530)
- 1602Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)
- 1680John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English privy councillor (d. 1737)
- 1692Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (d. 1754)
- 1701Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (d. 1773)
- 1763Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)
- 1766Thomas Robert Malthus, English demographer and political economist (d. 1834)
- 1778Fernando Sor (baptized), Spanish composer (d. 1839)
- 1778Minh Mang, the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam (d. 1841)
- 1799Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter (d. 1842)
- 1800Emory Washburn, American politician and 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877)
- 1812Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (d. 1846)
- 1818Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist (d. 1895)
- 1819Christopher Sholes, American inventor (d. 1890)
- 1824Winfield Scott Hancock, American Civil War general (d. 1886)
- 1828Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (d. 1885)
- 1838Margaret E. Knight, American inventor, (d. 1914)
- 1846Julian Scott, American artist and American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1901)
- 1847Anna Howard Shaw, American suffragette (d. 1919)
- 1847Queen Maria Pia of Savoy of Portugal (d. 1911)
- 1848Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934)
- 1856Frank Harris, Irish author and editor (d. 1931)
- 1859George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., American engineer and inventor (d. 1896)
- 1860Eugen Schiffer, German politician (d. 1954)
- 1869Charles Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1959)
- 1871Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (d. 1959)
- 1884Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1952)
- 1884Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet (d. 1974)
- 1884Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor, film director (d. 1947)
- 1885Syed Zafarul Hasan, Indian-born Pakistani philosopher (d. 1949)
- 1890Nina Hamnett, Welsh artist (d. 1956)
- 1892Radola Gajda, Czech military commander (d. 1948)
- 1894Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)
- 1895Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
- 1898Bill Tilman, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977)
- 1898Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-born American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)
- 1903Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
- 1904Charles Oatley, British electrical engineer (d. 1996)
- 1904Hertta Kuusinen, Finnish communist (d. 1974)
- 1905Thelma Ritter, American actress (d. 1969)
- 1912Tibor Sekelj, Croatian explorer (d. 1988)
- 1913James Pike, American Episcopal bishop (d. 1969)
- 1913Jimmy Hoffa, American labor union leader (presumed d. 1975)
- 1913Mel Allen, American sports reporter (d. 1996)
- 1913Woody Hayes, American college football coach (d. 1987)
- 1914Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (d. 2007)
- 1916Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1916Marcel Bigeard, French general (d. 2010)
- 1916Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director (d. 1996)
- 1916Sally Gray, English actress (d. 2006)
- 1917Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 2011)
- 1920Judith Holzmeister, Austrian actress (d. 2008)
- 1921Hazel McCallion, Canadian politician and 3rd mayor of Mississauga, Ontario
- 1921Hugh Downs, American television host
- 1922Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey (d. 1982)
- 1927Lois Maxwell, Canadian actress (d. 2007)
- 1929Vic Morrow, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1931Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1931Brian Kelly, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1931Phyllis McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)
- 1932Alexander Kluge, German actor and film director
- 1933Madhubala, Indian actress (d. 1969)
- 1934Florence Henderson, American actress
- 1934Michel Corboz, Swiss conductor
- 1934Neil Davis, Australian cameraman (d. 1985)
- 1936Andrew Prine, American actor
- 1936Fanne Foxe, Argentine dancer and Wilbur Mills scandal figure
- 1937Magic Sam, American blues musician (d. 1969)
- 1939Eugene Fama, American economist
- 1941Donna Shalala, American educator
- 1941Paul Tsongas, American politician (d. 1997)
- 1942Andrew Robinson, American actor
- 1942Michael Bloomberg, American media mogul and politician
- 1942Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (d. 1962)
- 1943Aaron Russo, American movie producer (d. 2007)
- 1943Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter
- 1943Maceo Parker, American musician (P-Funk)
- 1944Alan Parker, British film director and writer
- 1944Carl Bernstein, American journalist
- 1944Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (d. 1978)
- 1945Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
- 1946Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauru politician (d. 2003)
- 1946Gregory Hines, American dancer and actor (d. 2003)
- 1947Judd Gregg, American politician
- 1947Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1975)
- 1948Pat O'Brien, American sportscaster and television host
- 1948Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)
- 1950Roger Fisher, American musician (Heart)
- 1951JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater
- 1951Kevin Keegan, English footballer
- 1952Nancy Keenan, American reproductive-rights advocate
- 1953Odds Bodkin, American storyteller
- 1955Carol Kalish, American publishing executive (d. 1991)
- 1955James Eckhouse, American actor
- 1955Rip Rogers, American professional wrestler
- 1955Ronald Desruelles, Belgian athlete
- 1956Dave Dravecky, American baseball player
- 1957Alan Hunter, American TV personality
- 1957Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano
- 1958Enrique Mansilla, Argentine racing driver
- 1958Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
- 1959Renée Fleming, American soprano
- 1960Jim Kelly, American football player
- 1960Meg Tilly, American actress
- 1961Latifa, Tunisian singer
- 1961Phillip Hamilton, American author
- 1962Kevyn Aucoin, American cosmetologist (d. 2002)
- 1962Michael Higgs, English actor
- 1962Philippe Sella, French rugby player
- 1962Sakina Jaffrey, Indian actress
- 1963Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor
- 1963John Marzano, American baseball player
- 1964Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist
- 1964Zach Galligan, American actor
- 1965Slick Rick, English-born American rapper
- 1966Petr Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player
- 1967Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1967Mark Rutte, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1967Stelios Haji-Ioannou, British entrepreneur
- 1968Jules Asner, American television personality
- 1968Scott McClellan, American civil servant and 25th White House Press Secretary
- 1969Adriana Behar, Brazilian beach volleyball player
- 1969Harry Colon, American football player
- 1970Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist
- 1970Simon Pegg, British comedian and actor
- 1971Gheorghe Muresan, Romanian basketball player
- 1971Kris Aquino, Filipino Actress and TV Host
- 1971Noriko Sakai, Japanese singer
- 1971Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler
- 1972Big Daddy V, American professional wrestler
- 1972Drew Bledsoe, American football player
- 1972Hiroshi, Japanese comedian
- 1972Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress
- 1972Rob Thomas, American musician (Matchbox Twenty)
- 1973Steve McNair, American football player (d. 2009)
- 1973Tyus Edney, American basketball player
- 1973Yuka Sato, Japanese figure skater
- 1974Filippa Giordano, Italian singer
- 1974Philippe Léonard, Belgian footballer
- 1975Malik Zidi, French actor
- 1975Scott Owen, Australian musician (The Living End)
- 1975Xie Hui, Chinese footballer
- 1975Yul Kwon, American reality television personality
- 1976Erica Leerhsen, American actress
- 1976Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer (Leaves’ Eyes)
- 1977Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist
- 1977Darren Bennett, British professional ballroom dancer
- 1977Darren Purse, English footballer
- 1977Donna Cruz, Filipina Actress and Singer
- 1977Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
- 1978Darius Songaila, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1978Dean Gaffney, British actor
- 1978Dwele, American R&B/Soul singer
- 1978Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
- 1979Pablo Pallante, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979Paolo Ginestra, Italian footballer
- 1980Fátima Leyva, Mexican footballer
- 1980Josh Senter, American screenwriter
- 1980Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress
- 1981Erin Torpey, American actress and singer
- 1981Randy de Puniet, French motorcycle racer
- 1982John Halls, English footballer
- 1982Marián Gáborík, Slovak hockey player
- 1983Bacary Sagna, French footballer
- 1983Callix Crabbe, US Virgin Islander baseball player
- 1983Rhydian Roberts, Welsh singer and reality show contestant
- 1983Rocky Elsom, Australian rugby player
- 1984Hamed Namouchi, Tunisian footballer
- 1985Heart Evangelista, Filipino singer and actress
- 1985John Prats, Filipino Actor and Dancer
- 1985Karima Adebibe, Moroccan-born British actress and model
- 1985Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress
- 1985Natsume Sano, Japanese gravure idol
- 1985Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer
- 1985Tyler Clippard, American baseball player
- 1986Ace Asero, Filipino Rapper
- 1986Aschwin Wildeboer, Spanish swimmer
- 1986Gao Lin, Chinese footballer
- 1986Kang Min-Soo, South Korean footballer
- 1986Markus Karl, German footballer
- 1986Michael Ammermüller, German racing driver
- 1986Oliver Lee, British actor
- 1986Roxanne Guinoo, Filipina actress
- 1986Tiffany Thornton, American actress
- 1987David Wheater, English footballer
- 1987Edinson Cavani Uruguayan footballer
- 1987Fabian Schönheim, German footballer
- 1987Joseph Pichler, American actor
- 1987Julia Savicheva, Russian singer
- 1988Ángel di María, Argentine footballer
- 1988Asia Nitollano, American dancer and reality show contestant
- 1988Katie Boland, Canadian actress
- 1988Quentin Mosimann, Swiss singer and reality show contestant
- 1989Adam Matuszczyk, Polish footballer
- 1989Brandon Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989Emma Miskew, Canadian curler
- 1989Néstor Calderón, Mexican footballer
- 1992Freddie Highmore, English actor
- 1994Paul Butcher, Jr., American actor
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Who Died On February 14?
- 270St. Valentine marking Valentine’s Day
- 869Saint Cyril, Greek monk, scholar, theologian and linguist (b. 827)
- 1229Raghnall mac Gofraidh, King of the Isles.
- 1317Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282)
- 1400King Richard II of England (murdered) (b. 1367)
- 1405Timur, Mongol conqueror (b. 1336)
- 1571Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517)
- 1676Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist
- 1714Maria Luisa of Savoy, Queen Consort of Spain (b. 1688)
- 1737Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
- 1744John Hadley, inventor (b. 1682)
- 1779James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (b. 1728)
- 1780William Blackstone, English jurist (b. 1723)
- 1782Singu Min, King of Burma (b. 1756)
- 1808John Dickinson, American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania (b. 1732)
- 1831Henry Maudslay, English inventor (b. 1771)
- 1831Vicente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero (b. 1782)
- 1870St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General (b. 1815)
- 1881Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (b. 1812)
- 1885Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)
- 1891William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General (b. 1820)
- 1894Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (b. 1814)
- 1922Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (assassinated) (b. 1880)
- 1929Thomas Burke, American sprinter (b. 1875)
- 1942Adnan Bin Saidi, Officer of the Malay Regiment killed in the defense of Singapore (b. 1915)
- 1943David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)
- 1943Dora Gerson, German actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (b. 1899)
- 1948Mordecai Brown, American baseball player (b. 1876)
- 1949Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi-Assyrian communist leader (b. 1901)
- 1950Karl Guthe Jansky, American Discoverer of cosmic radio waves (b. 1905)
- 1952Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
- 1958Abdul Rab Nishtar, veteran leader of Pakistan Movement, (b. 1899)
- 1959Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (b. 1898)
- 1967Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
- 1969Vito Genovese, American gangster (b. 1897)
- 1970Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880).
- 1974Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1903)
- 1975Julian Huxley, British biologist (b. 1887)
- 1975P. G. Wodehouse, English writer (b. 1881)
- 1978Paul Governali, American football player (b. 1921)
- 1979Adolph Dubs, American diplomat (b. 1920)
- 1980Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor (b. 1926)
- 1983Lina Radke, German athlete (b. 1903)
- 1986Edmund Rubbra, English Composer (b. 1901)
- 1987Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian composer (b. 1904)
- 1987Karolos Koun, Greek theater director (b. 1908)
- 1988Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)
- 1989James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)
- 1990Tony Holiday, German singer (b. 1951)
- 1994Andrei Chikatilo, Russian serial killer (executed) (b. 1936)
- 1994Christopher Lasch, American historian and social critic (b. 1932)
- 1994Rodney Orr American racing driver (b. 1962)
- 1995Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (b. 1923)
- 1995U Nu, Burmese politician (b. 1907)
- 1996Bob Paisley, English football manager (b. 1919)
- 1999Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (b. 1933)
- 1999John Ehrlichman, American presidential advisor (b. 1925)
- 2002Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
- 2003Dolly, first cloned mammal (b. 1996)
- 2003Johnny Longden, English jockey (b. 1907)
- 2004Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)
- 2005Najai Turpin, American boxer (b. 1981)
- 2005Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician (b. 1944)
- 2005Tatiana Gritsi-Milliex, Greek novelist and journalist (b. 1920)
- 2006Darry Cowl, French musician and actor (b. 1925)
- 2006Lynden David Hall, British singer (b. 1974)
- 2006Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)
- 2007Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920)
- 2007Ryan Larkin, Canadian animated filmmaker (b. 1943)
- 2009John McGlinn, American conductor (b. 1953)
- 2009Louie Bellson, American jazz drummer (b. 1924)
- 2009Sir Bernard Ashley, Welsh businessman (b. 1926)
- 2010Dick Francis, British jockey-turned-novelist (b. 1920)
- 2010Doug Fieger, American musician The Knack (b. 1952)
- 2011Sir George Shearing, Anglo-American jazz pianist (b. 1919)
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