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Today February 14th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
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 E. 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
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
1963 – John Marzano, American baseball player
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
1968 – Scott McClellan, American politician
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 – Gheorghe Muresan, Romanian basketball player
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 – Tyus Edney, American basketball player
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
1975 – Malik Zidi, French actor
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 – Gonzalo Venegas, aka G1, of hip hop group Rebel Diaz
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, Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll winner
1988 – Eliska Sursova, American actress
1988 – Quentin Mosimann, Swiss singer, winner of Star Academy France 7
1989 – Brandon Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Freddie Highmore, English actor
1994 – Paul Butcher, American actor
Deaths
270 – St. Valentine marking Valentines Day
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)
1986 – Edmund Rubbra, English Composer (b. 1901)
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)
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