On This Day in History - February 14th - Almanac

This is Friday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2025 with 320 to follow.

This is Valentine's Day.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include statesman/abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1818; comedian/actor Jack Benny in 1894; actor Thelma Ritter in 1902; College Football Hall of Fame member Woody Hayes in 1913; labor leader Jimmy Hoffa 1913; broadcaster Hugh Downs in 1921; actor/musician Florence Henderson in 1934; entrepreneur/former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 1942 (age 83); writer Carl Bernstein in 1944 (age 81); Hans-Adam II, prince of Liechtenstein, in 1945 (age 80); dancer/actor Gregory Hines in 1946; magician Raymond Joseph Teller in 1948 (age 77); TV personality Pat O'Brien in 1948 (age 77); radio personality Terry Gross in 1951 (age 74); opera musician Renee Fleming in 1959 (age 66); actor Meg Tilly in 1960 (age 65); musician D'Wayne Wiggins (Tony! Toni! Toné!) in 1961 (age 64); actor Sakina Jaffrey in 1962 (age 63); actor Enrico Colantoni in 1963 (age 62); actor Zack Galligan in 1964 (age 61); actor Valente Rodriguez in 1964 (age 61); musician Ricky Wolking (Nixons) in 1966 (age 59); NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in 1967 (age 58); actor Phill Lewis in 1968 (age 57); actor Simon Pegg in 1970 (age 55); musician Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) in 1972 (age 53); actor Danai Gurira in 1978 (age 47); actor Jake Lacy in 1985 (age 40); actor Brett Dier in 1990 (age 35); musician Karol G in 1991 (age 34); actor Freddie Highmore in 1992 (age 33); actor Alberto Rosende in 1993 (age 32); musician Jaehyun (NCT) in 1997 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1779, British navigator and explorer James Cook, first known European to reach the Hawaiian Islands, was stabbed to death by island natives while investigating the theft of a boat.

In 1849, James Polk became the first U.S. president to be photographed while in office. The photographer was Mathew Brady, who is famous for his Civil War pictures.

In 1859, Oregon was admitted as the 33rd member of the United States.

In 1903, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt signed a law creating the Department of Commerce and Labor.

In 1912, Arizona was admitted as the 48th member of the United States.

In 1920, the League of Women Voters was formed in Chicago.

In 1929, in what became known as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," gunmen believed to be working for Prohibition-era crime boss Al Capone killed seven members of the rival George "Bugs" Moran gang in a Chicago garage.

In 1949, Israel's legislature, the Knesset, convened for the first time.

In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, offended by The Satanic Verses, called on Muslims to kill its author, Salman Rushdie. He offered a $1 million reward for Rushdie's death, sending the writer into hiding. Iran rescinded the death sentence in 1998.

In 1990, 90 people were killed and 56 injured in the crash of an Indian Airlines Airbus 320, about 50 yards short of a runway in Bangalore, India.

In 1994, a convicted serial killer who admitted killing 55 people -- Andrei Chikatilo -- was executed by a firing squad in a Russian prison.

In 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated. Twenty-one others died with him.

In 2005, video-sharing website YouTube was founded by former PayPal employees. The company was purchased by Google a year and a half later for $1.65 billion.

In 2011, Chevron was ordered to pay $8.6 billion to clean up oil pollution in a rain forest area in northeastern Ecuador.

In 2018, a 19-year-old who had been expelled for discipline problems walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and fatally shot 17 people, including 14 students.

In 2022, scientists determined that a megadrought that had gripped the southwestern North America for more than two decades was the driest such event in the region in at least 1,200 years.

In 2024, one person was killed and more than 20 injured after gunmen opened fire on partygoers near the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade.

A thought for the day: "The women's movement is a great movement of the sexes toward each other, with common ideals as to government, as well as common ideals in domestic life, where fully developed manhood must seek and find its real mate in the mother of his children, as well as the solace of his home." -- U.S. Sen. Rebecca Felton