This day is observed in most countries as Valentine's Day.

Events

Pre-1600

• 748 Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.

• 763 The death of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah marks the end of the Alid revolt of 762–763.

• 842 Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.

• 1014 Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.

• 1130 The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.

• 1349 Strasbourg 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.

• 1530 Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.

• 1556 Having 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.

• 1556 Coronation of Akbar as ruler of the Mughal Empire.

1601–1900

• 1613 Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London.

• 1655 The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.

• 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 renders a nine gun salute to , commanded by John Paul Jones.

• 1779 American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.

• 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, (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.

• 1804 Karađorđe 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, in the Latter Day Saint movement, 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.

• 1852 Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.

• 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 the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

• 1899 Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

• 1900 The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.

1901–present

• 1903 The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).

• 1912 Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.

• 1912 The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.

• 1918 Soviet Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.

• 1919 The Polish–Soviet War begins.

• 1920 The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.

• 1924 The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

• 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.

• 1939 World War II: German battleship Bismarck is launched.

• 1942 World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.

• 1943 World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.

• 1943 World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a counter-attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.

• 1944 World 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.

• 1945 World 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.

• 1945 World 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.

• 1945 World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans

• 1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the , officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.

• 1946 The Bank of England is nationalized.

• 1947 The act abolishing all noble ranks and related styles comes into force in Hungary.

• 1949 The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time.

• 1949 The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

• 1954 First Indochina War - small French garrison at Đắk Đoa is overrun by the Viet Minh after a week's siege.

• 1961 Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

• 1979 In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

• 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 Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

• 1990 Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.

• 1990 The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later becomes famous as Pale Blue Dot.

• 1998 An 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.

• 2000 The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

• 2003 Iraq 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.

• 2004 In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 28 people, and wounding 193 others.

• 2005 In Beirut, 23 people, including former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, are killed when the equivalent of around 1,000kg of TNT is detonated while Hariri's motorcade drives through the city.

• 2005 Seven 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.

• 2005 YouTube 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.

• 2008 Northern 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.

• 2011 As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.

• 2018 Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa.

• 2018 A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 17 injuries.

• 2019 Pulwama 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.

• 2020 - At least 22 people are killed in an attack on a village in Northwest Region, Cameroon.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1404 Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (died 1472)

• 1408 John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (died 1435)

• 1452 Pandolfo Petrucci, tyrant of Siena (died 1512)

• 1468 Johannes Werner, German priest and mathematician (died 1522)

• 1483 Babur, Mughal emperor (died 1530)

• 1490 Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (died 1556)

• 1513 Domenico Ferrabosco, Italian composer (died 1573)

• 1545 Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara (died 1561)

1601–1900

• 1602 Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (died 1676)

• 1614 John Wilkins, English bishop, academic and natural philosopher (died 1672)

• 1625 Countess Palatine Maria Euphrosyne of Zweibrücken, Swedish princess (died 1687)

• 1628 Valentine Greatrakes, Irish faith healer (died 1683)

• 1640 Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (died 1693)

• 1670 Rajaram Raj Bhonsle, third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Confederacy (died 1700)

• 1679 Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, German organist and composer (died 1735)

• 1692 Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French author and playwright (died 1754)

• 1701 Enrique Flórez, Spanish historian and author (died 1773)

• 1763 Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (died 1813)

• 1782 Eleanora Atherton, English philanthropist (died 1870)

• 1784 Heinrich Baermann, German clarinetist (died 1847)

• 1799 Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter and illustrator (died 1842)

• 1800 Emory Washburn, American historian, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1877)

• 1808 Michael Costa, Italian-English conductor and composer (died 1884)

• 1812 Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (died 1881)

• 1813 Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (died 1884)

• 1819 Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (died 1890)

• 1824 Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (died 1886)

• 1828 Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (died 1885)

• 1829 Alfred Iverson Jr., American Confederate Army officer (died 1911)

• 1835 Piet Paaltjens, Dutch minister and poet (died 1894)

• 1838 Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (died 1914)

• 1846 Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1901)

• 1847 Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist (died 1919)

• 1848 Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (died 1934)

• 1855 Frank Harris, Irish author and journalist (died 1931)

• 1859 George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (died 1896)

• 1860 Eugen Schiffer, German lawyer and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (died 1954)

• 1864 Hadley Williams, Canadian surgeon and educator (died 1932)

• 1869 Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1959)

• 1878 Julius Nieuwland, Belgian priest, chemist and academic (died 1936)

• 1882 John Barrymore, American actor (died 1942)

• 1884 Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor and director (died 1947)

• 1884 Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (died 1974)

• 1888 Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist (died 1956)

• 1890 Nina Hamnett, Welsh-English painter and author (died 1956)

• 1890 Dick Richards, Welsh international footballer (died 1934)

• 1891 Katherine Stinson, American aviator (died 1977)

• 1892 Radola Gajda, Czech commander and politician (died 1948)

• 1894 Jack Benny, American actor and producer (died 1974)

• 1895 Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (died 1945)

• 1895 Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (died 1973)

• 1898 Bill Tilman, English mountaineer and explorer (died 1977)

• 1898 Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (died 1974)

• 1900 Jessica Dragonette, American singer (died 1980)

1901–present

• 1902 Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (died 1969)

• 1903 Stuart Erwin, American actor (died 1967)

• 1907 Johnny Longden, English-American jockey and trainer (died 2003)

• 1911 Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor (died 2009)

• 1912 Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian lawyer, explorer, and author (died 1988)

• 1913 Mel Allen, American sportscaster (died 1996)

• 1913 Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (died 1987)

• 1913 Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (died 1975)

• 1913 James Pike, American bishop (died 1969)

• 1915 Sally Gray, English actress and singer (died 2006)

• 1916 Marcel Bigeard, French general (died 2010)

• 1916 Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director and producer (died 1996)

• 1916 Edward Platt, American actor (died 1974)

• 1917 Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)

• 1921 Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer (died 2020)

• 1921 Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 3rd Mayor of Mississauga (died 2023)

• 1923 Jay Hebert, American golfer (died 1997)

• 1924 Juan Ponce Enrile, Filipino politician and lawyer (died 2025)

• 1924 Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (died 2017)

• 1927 Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress (died 2007)

• 1928 William Allain, American lawyer and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (died 2013)

• 1928 Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (died 2014)

• 1929 Vic Morrow, American actor and director (died 1982)

• 1931 Brian Kelly, American actor and director (died 2005)

• 1932 Harriet Andersson, Swedish actress

• 1932 Alexander Kluge, German author, film director and public intellectual (died 2026)

• 1933 – Nell Hall Williams, American quilter (died 2021)

• 1934 Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (died 2016)

• 1935 David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, Scottish academic and diplomat, 27th Governor of Hong Kong

• 1936 Anna German, Polish singer (died 1982)

• 1937 John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport

• 1937 Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (died 1969)

• 1938 Eberhard Riedel, German Olympic alpine skier (died 2026)

• 1939 Razzy Bailey, American country music singer-songwriter and musician (died 2021)

• 1939 Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2016)

• 1939 Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

• 1941 Donna Shalala, American academic and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

• 1941 Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (died 1997)

• 1942 Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City

• 1942 Andrew Robinson, American actor and director

• 1942 Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (died 1962)

• 1943 Maceo Parker, American saxophonist

• 1944 Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author

• 1944 Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2020)

• 1944 Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (died 1978)

• 1945 Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein

• 1945 Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (died 2013)

• 1946 Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauru politician, President of Nauru (died 2003)

• 1946 Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (died 2003)

• 1947 Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1975)

• 1947 Judd Gregg, American lawyer and politician, 76th Governor of New Hampshire

• 1947 John Quayle, Australian rugby league player and administrator

• 1947 Phạm Tuân, Vietnamese aviator and cosmonaut

• 1947 Stephen A. Schwarzman, American businessman

• 1948 Mayra Gómez Kemp, Cuban-Spanish television host and actress (died 2024)

• 1948 Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American actress and dancer (died 2022)

• 1948 Pat O'Brien, American journalist and author

• 1948 Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (died 2005)

• 1948 Teller, American magician and actor

• 1950 Roger Fisher, American guitarist and songwriter

• 1951 Terry Gross, American radio host and producer

• 1951 Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager (died 2026)

• 1952 Sushma Swaraj, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2019)

• 1954 Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (died 2013)

• 1955 Carol Kalish, American publisher (died 1991)

• 1956 Howard Davis Jr., American boxer and trainer (died 2015)

• 1956 Dave Dravecky, American baseball player

• 1956 Katharina Fritsch, German sculptor and academic

• 1957 Soile Isokoski, Finnish soprano and actress

• 1957 Alan Smith, English bishop

• 1957 Ken Wahl, American actor

• 1958 Grant Thomas, Australian footballer and coach

• 1959 Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress

• 1960 Philip Jones, English admiral

• 1960 Jim Kelly, American football player and businessman

• 1960 Meg Tilly, American actress and author

• 1961 D'Wayne Wiggins, American musical artist (died 2025)

• 1962 Sakina Jaffrey, American actress

• 1963 Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor, director, and producer

• 1964 Gianni Bugno, Italian cyclist and sportscaster

• 1964 Zach Galligan, American actor

• 1966 Petr Svoboda, Czech ice hockey player and agent

• 1967 Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Greek-English businessman, founded easyJet

• 1967 Calle Johansson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach

• 1967 Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian-Swiss tennis player

• 1967 Bernie Moreno, American politician and businessman

• 1967 Mark Rutte, Dutch businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

• 1968 Jules Asner, American model and television host

• 1968 Chris Lewis, Guyanese-English cricketer

• 1968 Scott McClellan, American civil servant and author, 25th White House Press Secretary

• 1969 Meg Hillier, English journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

• 1970 Giuseppe Guerini, Italian cyclist

• 1970 Sean Hill, American ice hockey player

• 1970 Simon Pegg, English actor, director, and producer

• 1970 Takashi Saito, Japanese baseball player

• 1971 Kris Aquino, Filipino talk show host, actress, and producer

• 1971 Gheorghe Mureșan, Romanian basketball player

• 1972 Drew Bledsoe, American football player and coach

• 1972 Musōyama Masashi, Japanese sumo wrestler

• 1972 Najwa Nimri, Spanish actress and singer

• 1972 Jaan Tallinn, Estonian computer programmer, co-developed Skype

• 1972 Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter

• 1973 H. D. Ackerman, South African cricketer

• 1973 Annalisa Buffa, Italian mathematician

• 1973 Tyus Edney, American basketball player and coach

• 1973 Steve McNair, American football player (died 2009)

• 1974 Valentina Vezzali, Italian fencer and politician

• 1975 Viktor Kozlov, Russian ice hockey player and coach

• 1975 Dámaso Marte, Dominican baseball player

• 1976 Milan Hejduk, Czech-American ice hockey player

• 1976 Liv Kristine, Norwegian singer-songwriter

• 1976 Rie Rasmussen, Danish model, film director, writer, photographer, and actress

• 1977 Anna Erschler, Russian mathematician

• 1977 Cadel Evans, Australian cyclist

• 1977 Jim Jefferies, Australian comedian and actor

• 1977 Darren Purse, English footballer

• 1977 Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (died 2007)

• 1978 Danai Gurira, American-Zimbabwean actress

• 1978 Richard Hamilton, American basketball player

• 1978 Darius Songaila, Lithuanian basketball player and coach

• 1980 Josh Senter, American screenwriter and producer

• 1980 Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress and producer

• 1981 Matteo Brighi, Italian footballer

• 1981 Randy de Puniet, French motorcycle racer

• 1981 Brad Halsey, American baseball player (died 2014)

• 1981 Kara Lawson, American basketball player and coach

• 1981 Jared Lorenzen, American football player (died 2019)

• 1982 Marián Gáborík, Slovak ice hockey player

• 1982 John Halls, English footballer and model

• 1982 Lenka Tvarošková, Slovak tennis player

• 1983 Callix Crabbe, Virgin Islander baseball player

• 1983 Rocky Elsom, Australian rugby player

• 1983 Bacary Sagna, French footballer

• 1984 Matt Barr, American actor

• 1985 Karima Adebibe, English model and actress

• 1985 Tyler Clippard, American baseball player

• 1985 Heart Evangelista, Filipino singer and actress

• 1985 Philippe Senderos, Swiss footballer

• 1985 Miki Yeung, Hong Kong singer and actress

• 1986 Michael Ammermüller, German racing driver

• 1986 Oliver Lee, English actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1986 Gao Lin, Chinese footballer

• 1986 Tiffany Thornton, American actress and singer

• 1987 Edinson Cavani, Uruguayan footballer

• 1987 Tom Pyatt, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1987 David Wheater, English footballer

• 1987 Candice Wiggins, American basketball player

• 1988 Katie Boland, Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter

• 1988 Ángel Di María, Argentinian footballer

• 1988 Siim Liivik, Estonian ice hockey player

• 1989 Néstor Calderón, Mexican footballer

• 1989 Adam Matuszczyk, Polish footballer

• 1989 Emma Miskew, Canadian curler

• 1989 Byron Mullens, American basketball player

• 1989 Derek Norris, American baseball player

• 1989 Brandon Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1989 Jurij Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper

• 1989 Kristian Thomas, English gymnast

• 1990 Chris Babb, American basketball player

• 1990 Brett Dier, Canadian actor

• 1990 Bogdan Kiselevich, Russian ice hockey player

• 1990 Sefa Yılmaz, German-Turkish footballer

• 1991 Karol G, Colombian singer and songwriter

• 1991 Daniela Mona Lambin, Estonian footballer

• 1992 Christian Eriksen, Danish footballer

• 1992 Freddie Highmore, English actor

• 1992 Petr Mrázek, Czech ice hockey player

• 1993 Jadeveon Clowney, American football player

• 1993 Alberto Rosende, American actor and singer

• 1996 Nikolaj Ehlers, Danish ice hockey player

• 1996 Poasa Faamausili, New Zealand rugby league player

• 1996 Lucas Hernandez, French footballer

• 1997 Jaehyun, South Korean singer and actor

• 1997 Breel Embolo, Swiss footballer

• 1999 Tyler Adams, American soccer player

• 2000 Gabriel Moreno, Venezuelan baseball player

• 2002 Jaxon Smith-Njigba, American football player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 269 Saint Valentine, Roman saint

• 869 Cyril, Greek missionary bishop and saint (born 827)

• 945 Lian Chongyu, Chinese general

• 945 Zhu Wenjin, Chinese emperor

• 1009 Bruno of Querfurt, German missionary bishop

• 1010 Fujiwara no Korechika, Japanese nobleman (born 974)

• 1140 Leo I, Armenian prince

• 1140 Sobĕslav I, duke of Bohemia

• 1164 Sviatoslav Olgovich, Kievan prince

• 1229 Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles

• 1318 Margaret of France, queen of England

• 1400 Richard II, king of England (born 1367)

• 1440 Dietrich of Oldenburg, German nobleman

• 1489 Nicolaus von Tüngen, prince-bishop of Warmia

• 1528 Edzard I, German nobleman (born 1462)

• 1549 Il Sodoma, Italian painter (born 1477)

1601–1900

• 1676 Abraham Bosse, French engraver and illustrator (born 1602)

• 1714 Maria Luisa of Savoy, queen of Spain (born 1688)

• 1737 Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, English lawyer and politician Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1685)

• 1744 John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (born 1682)

• 1755 Isidro de Espinosa, Franciscan missionary from Spanish Texas (born 1679)

• 1779 James Cook, English captain, cartographer, and explorer (born 1728)

• 1780 William Blackstone, English jurist and politician (born 1723)

• 1782 Singu Min, Burmese king (born 1756)

• 1808 John Dickinson, American lawyer and politician 5th Governor of Delaware (born 1732)

• 1831 Vicente Guerrero, Mexican general and politician, 2nd President of Mexico (born 1782)

• 1831 Henry Maudslay, English engineer (born 1771)

• 1870 St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (born 1815)

• 1881 Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (born 1812)

• 1884 Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (born 1813)

• 1885 Jules Vallès, French journalist and author (born 1832)

• 1891 William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (born 1820)

• 1894 Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (born 1814)

1901–present

• 1910 Giovanni Passannante, Italian anarchist (born 1849)

• 1922 Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (born 1880; assassinated)

• 1923 Charles Henry Turner, American zoologist, educator, and comparative psychologist (born 1867)

• 1924 Amalie Andersen, Norwegian actress (born 1861)

• 1929 Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and lawyer (born 1875)

• 1930 Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1853)

• 1933 Carl Correns, German botanist and geneticist (born 1864)

• 1937 Erkki Melartin, Finnish composer (born 1875)

• 1942 Adnan Saidi, Malayan lieutenant (born 1915)

• 1943 Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (born 1899)

• 1943 David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (born 1862)

• 1943 Aleksander Meysztowicz, Polish politician and landowner (bron 1864)

• 1948 Mordecai Brown, American baseball player and manager (born 1876)

• 1949 Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi politician (born 1901)

• 1950 Karl Guthe Jansky, American physicist and engineer (born 1905)

• 1952 Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (born 1896)

• 1956 Harold Edward Dahl, American pilot and mercenary (born 1909)

• 1958 Abdur Rab Nishtar, Pakistani politician, 2nd Governor of Punjab (born 1899)

• 1959 Baby Dodds, American drummer (born 1898)

• 1967 Sig Ruman, German-American actor (born 1884)

• 1969 Vito Genovese, Italian-American mob boss (born 1897)

• 1970 Bert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (born 1880)

• 1974 Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer and coach (born 1903)

• 1975 Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (born 1887)

• 1975 P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist and playwright (born 1881)

• 1976 Gertrud Dorka, German archaeologist, prehistorian and museum director (born 1893)

• 1976 George Washington Bacon III, American soldier, CIA agent, and mercenary (born 1946)

• 1976 Charlie Christodoulou, British soldier and mercenary of the Angolan Civil War (born 1951)

• 1979 Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (born 1920)

• 1983 Lina Radke, German runner and coach (born 1903)

• 1986 Edmund Rubbra, English composer and conductor (born 1901)

• 1987 Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (born 1904)

• 1988 Frederick Loewe, German-American composer (born 1901)

• 1989 James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (born 1900)

• 1989 Vincent Crane, English pianist (born 1943)

• 1994 Andrei Chikatilo, Soviet serial killer (born 1936)

• 1994 Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (born 1932)

• 1995 Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (born 1923)

• 1995 U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (born 1907)

• 1996 Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (born 1919)

• 1998 Peter Koch (wood scientist), American industrial engineer and wood scientist (born 1920)

• 1999 John Ehrlichman, American lawyer and politician, 12th White House Counsel (born 1925)

• 1999 Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1933)

• 2002 Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (born 1922)

• 2002 Mick Tucker, English drummer (born 1947)

• 2003 Johnny Longden, English jockey and trainer (born 1907)

• 2004 Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (born 1970)

• 2005 Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (born 1944; assassinated)

• 2006 Lynden David Hall, English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1974)

• 2007 Ryan Larkin, Canadian animator and director (born 1943)

• 2007 Gareth Morris, English flute player and educator (born 1920)

• 2008 – Perry Lopez, American actor (born 1929)

• 2009 Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (born 1926)

• 2009 Louie Bellson, American drummer and composer (born 1924)

• 2010 Doug Fieger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1952)

• 2010 Dick Francis, Welsh jockey and author (born 1920)

• 2010 Linnart Mäll, Estonian historian, orientalist, and translator (born 1938)

• 2011 George Shearing, English-American pianist and composer (born 1919)

• 2012 Mike Bernardo, South African boxer and martial artist (born 1969)

• 2012 Tonmi Lillman, Finnish drummer and producer (born 1973)

• 2012 Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter (born 1925)

• 2012 Péter Rusorán, Hungarian swimmer, water polo player, and coach (born 1940)

• 2013 Glenn Boyer, American historian and author (born 1924)

• 2013 Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (born 1931)

• 2014 Tom Finney, English footballer (born 1922)

• 2014 Chris Pearson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (born 1931)

• 2014 Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Alaska Territory (born 1919)

• 2015 Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (born 1921)

• 2015 Philip Levine, American poet and academic (born 1928)

• 2015 Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (born 1920)

• 2016 Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English lieutenant, engineer, and politician (born 1928)

• 2016 Steven Stucky, American composer and academic (born 1949)

• 2018 Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician and diplomat, Prime Minister and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (born 1939)

• 2018 Morgan Tsvangirai, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (born 1952)

• 2019 Andrea Levy, English author (born 1956)

• 2021 Carlos Menem, Argentine former president, lawyer, and statesman (born 1930)

• 2021 William Meninger, American Trappist monk and a principal developer of Centering Prayer (born 1932)

• 2026 Tom Noonan, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1951)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe (Roman Catholic Church)

• Eleuchadius

• Manchan

• Valentine (see also Valentine's Day)

• Vicente Vilar David

• February 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)

• Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)

• Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)

• Parents' Worship Day (parts of India)

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on February 14