February 14Birthdays & History

On this day: February 14 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 748Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.Middle East
2. 763The death of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah marks the end of the Alid revolt of 762–763.Middle East
3. 842Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.Europe
4. 1014Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.Europe
5. 1130The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.Europe
6. 1349Strasbourg massacre: Several thousand Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg after being accused of causing the Black Death.Europe
7. 1530Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.EuropeLatin America
8. 1556Having been declared a heretic and laicized by Pope Paul IV on 4 December 1555, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is publicly defrocked at Christ Church Cathedral.Europe
9. 1556Coronation of Akbar as ruler of the Mughal Empire.Asia
10. 1613Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London.Europe
11. 1655The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.EuropeLatin America
12. 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 renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.North AmericaEurope
13. 1779American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.North America
14. 1779James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.North America
15. 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.Europe
16. 1804Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.EuropeMiddle East
17. 1831Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.Africa
18. 1835The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.North America
19. 1849In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.North America
20. 1852Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.Europe
21. 1855Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.North America
22. 1859Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.North America
23. 1876Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.North America
24. 1879The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.Latin America
25. 1899Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.North America
26. 1900The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.Europe
27. 1903The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).North America
28. 1912Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.North America
29. 1912The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.North America
30. 1918Soviet Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.Europe
31. 1919The Polish–Soviet War begins.Europe
32. 1920The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.North America
33. 1924The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).North America
34. 1929Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.North America
35. 1939World War II: German battleship Bismarck is launched.Europe
36. 1942World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.Asia
37. 1943World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.Europe
38. 1943World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a counter-attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.Africa
39. 1944World War II: In the action of 14 February 1944, a Royal Navy submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian Regia Marina submarine in the Strait of Malacca.Europe
40. 1945President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.Middle EastNorth America
41. 1945World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by a United States Army Air Forces squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet Red Army's Vistula–Oder Offensive.EuropeNorth America
42. 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.EuropeNorth America
43. 1945World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisansEurope
44. 1946The Bank of England is nationalized.Europe
45. 1947The act abolishing all noble ranks and related styles comes into force in Hungary.Europe
46. 1949The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.North America
47. 1949The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time.Middle East
48. 1954First Indochina War - small French garrison at Đắk Đoa is overrun by the Viet Minh after a week's siege.Europe
49. 1961Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.North America
50. 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.AsiaNorth America
51. 1983United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.North America
52. 1989Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.Middle East
53. 1989Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.Asia
54. 1990The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later becomes famous as Pale Blue Dot.World
55. 1990Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.Asia
56. 1998An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which killed 120.Africa
57. 2000The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.World
58. 2003Iraq disarmament crisis: UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix reports to the United Nations Security Council that disarmament inspectors have found no weapons of mass destruction in Ba'athist Iraq.Middle East
59. 2004In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 28 people, and wounding 193 others.EuropeAfrica
60. 2005YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.North America
61. 2005Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos, all in the Philippines.Asia
62. 2005In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri's motorcade drives through the city.Middle East
63. 2008Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opens fire in a lecture hall of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb County, Illinois, resulting in six fatalities (including the gunman) and 21 injuries.North America
64. 2011As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.Middle East
65. 2018Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa.Africa
66. 2018A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 17 injuries.North America
67. 2019Pulwama attack takes place in Lethpora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a suicide bomber were killed and 35 were injured.Asia
68. 2020At least 22 people are killed in an attack on a village in Northwest Region, Cameroon.Africa

Source: Wikipedia "February 14" / CC BY-SA 4.0