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| February 14th 1014 - Pope Benedict VIII was crowned Henry II as Holy Roman Emperor. 1400 - King Richard II of England, deposed from the throne the previous year, died mysteriously in Pontefract Castle. 1477 - The world's first known valentine was sent to John Paston from Margery Brews, addressed "To my right welbelovyd Voluntyne." 1779 - British explorer Captain James Cook was murdered in Hawaii. 1797 - The British fleet, under Admirals John Jervis and Horatio Nelson, defeated the Spanish at the battle of St. Vincent off Portugal. 1803 - Moses Coats received a patent for the apple parer. 1849 - Matthew Brady of New York City took the first photograph of a United States President. The subject was President James Polk. 1859 - Oregon was admitted as the 33rd state. 1893 - Hawaii was annexed to the United States by treaty, but the treaty was withdrawn by President Grover Cleveland. 1899 - The use of voting machines in federal elections were approved by the United States Congress. 1912 - In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel engine submarine was commissioned. 1912 - Arizona was admitted as the the 48th state. 1918 - The film, "Tarzan of the Apes", was released. It was based on stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The movie centered on 10-year-old Gordon Griffith who played the young Tarzan, the older Tarzan was played by Elmo Lincoln. Famous baseball player, Lou Gehrig, turned down an offer to play Tarzan. Four Tarzan actors have won Olympic medals: Johnny Weissmuller, Herman Brix, Buster Crabbe and Glen Morris. Johnny Weissmuller made the Tarzan yell famous. 1920 - The League of Women Voters was formed in Chicago. 1922 - Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi began the first regular radio broadcasting transmission from England. 1929 - Al Capone's henchmen, in order to prevent the hijacking of whiskey shipments, killed seven members of the Bugs Moran gang in the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in a Chicago garage. 1932 - The United States won its first bobsled competition, held at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, New York, over twelve other teams. 1933 - The first telephone speaking clock came into operation in the Paris area. 1939 - The German navy launched its battleship Bismarck. 1940 - The first porpoise to be born in captivity was delivered at Marineland in Florida. 1941 - Frank Leahy was named as the head football coach at Notre Dame. 1943 - In World War II, the Russians captured Rostov, Voroshilovgrad and Krasny Sulin from the Germans. 1946 - A computer began working at the University of Pennsylvania, taking seconds to do calculations, which normally took hours. It was called ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer. 1950 - A 30-year treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and China in Moscow. 1956 - The 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party opened, during which Nikita Khrushchev denounced the policies of Joseph Stalin. 1957 - Lionel Hampton�s only major musical work, "King David", debuted at New York�s Town Hall. Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted the four-part symphony jazz suite. 1958 - King Faisal of Iraq and King Hussein of Jordan proclaimed the merger of their kingdoms in the Arab Federation, with King Faisal as head of state and King Hussein his deputy. 1962 - A televised tour of the White House, led by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and hosted by Charles Collingwood, was broadcast simultaneously by CBS and NBC. The tour was watched by an estimated 46,500,000 viewers, offering them their first opportunity to see many of the rooms of the President's home. The First Lady was praised on her astute knowledge of the antique furniture in the White House, as she explained the history of many of the pieces during the tour. 1963 - Harold Wilson was elected leader of the British Labour Party. 1966 - Rick Mount of Lebanon, Indiana, became the first high school, male athlete pictured on "Sports Illustrated"'s cover. 1966 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers set a National Basketball Association record when, after 7 seasons of pro basketball, he hit a career high of 20,884 points. 1972 - The musical, "Grease", opened at New York's Eden Theatre. The play later moved to Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre where, with 3,388 performances, it became the longest-running musical to date. A hit movie based on the play starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John produced the hit songs: "Grease" by Frankie Valli, "You�re the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" by Travolta and Newton-John. 1972 - The Soviet unmanned spacecraft Luna 20 was launched to the moon. 1979 - Twenty-year-old rookie, Don Maloney, of the New York Rangers, scored his first goal in the National Hockey League on hisfirst NHL shot ever. 1979 - The United States ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolphe Dubs, was killed when security forces tried to free him from kidnappers. 1979 - The United States embassy in Iran was stormed by demonstrators, holding the ambassador and staff captive for several hours. 1980 - As Walter Cronkite announced his retirement from the "CBS Evening News", Dan Rather was chosen to replace television�s most trusted journalist. Cronkite announced Rather would take over the anchor desk in 1981. 1984 - In Sydney, Australia, British rocker Elton John married Renata Blauel. 1987 - The largest crowd to see an NBA game was at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, as 57,745 people watched the Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-107. 1987 - Dick Baldwin beat Adolph Rupp�s record for the most college career coaching wins as his Broome County Community College won game number 876. Baldwin was with the Upstate New York college for forty years. 1989 - Ayatollah Khomeini, in a fatwa, ordered the execution of British author Salman Rushdie after the publication of his novel, "Satanic Verses." 1989 - Kidnappers escaped with up to $2.5 million ransom after releasing former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants from a month of captivity. 1989 - Union Carbide Corp. accepted an Indian Supreme Court ruling that it pay $470 million in compensation for the 1984 Bhopal poison gas disaster, in which poisonous clouds from a Carbide fertilizer plant enveloped nearly 20 square miles and killed thousands in the immediate area. 1990 - An Indian Airlines Airbus crashed near Bangalore airport in southern India, killing 90 of the 146 people on board. 1992 - The European Community and the seven-nation European Free Trade Association struck a final deal, clearing the way for the creation of the world's biggest single market. 1995 - Peru declared a cease-fire at the end of a 19-day-old border war with Ecuador. 1996 - A New York jury found that Random House not only would not get back the $1.3 million advance it gave to Joan Collins, but that it would have to shell out more. The 62-year-old actress had finished one steamy novel promised to Random House, The Ruling Passion, but failed to deliver the second, Hell Hath No Fury, in complete shape. The publisher called the manuscripts unreadable trash, rejected both, and sued for return of the advance. The former Dynasty star countersued, asking for the rest of the contracted $4 million. The weeklong trial focused mostly on whether the two books were sexy potboilers or unreadable trash. Collins' unusual 1990 contract, put together by the late, legendary agent Irving "Swifty" Lazar, guaranteed payment on delivery, regardless of the quality. 1996 - An armed North Korean demanding political asylum shot his way into the Russian embassy compound in Pyongyang, killing three. 1996 - The artist formerly known as Prince, age 37, returned to his hometown of Minneapolis and, under his given name Prince Rogers Nelson, married his backup dancer Mayte Jannell Garcia, age 22. Church workers were not allowed to watch the 40-minute candlelight service in the sanctuary, which was decorated with pink and white roses. It was the first marriage for both. The eccentric artist had announced a few years earlier that he would no longer use the name "Prince", and would be known by an unpronounceable sign that merges the symbols for male and female. |
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