Vintage News · Odd history for February 14

What Happened On February 14

Q: What happened on February 14?

1852: The Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, was founded in London. 1876: Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray. 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. 1849: In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken. 1804: Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire. 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 USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones. 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. 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. 1130: The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals. 1014: Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.

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10 odd things that happened on February 14

1852 First ever
The Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, was founded in London.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1876 Oddly true
Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1852 First ever
Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1849 First ever
In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1804 First ever
Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1778 First ever
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 USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1556 Oddly true
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.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1530 Oddly true
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.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1130 Oddly true
The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1014 Oddly true
Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2020At least 22 people are killed in an attack on a village in Northwest Region, Cameroon. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
2018Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa. Wikipedia →
2018A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is one of the deadliest school massacres with 17 fatalities and 17 injuries. Wikipedia →
2011As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
2004In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 28 people, and wounding 193 others. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
2000The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1990Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India. Wikipedia →
1990The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later becomes famous as Pale Blue Dot. Wikipedia →
1989Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster. Wikipedia →
1989Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Wikipedia →
1983United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1961Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California. Wikipedia →
1954First Indochina War - small French garrison at Đắk Đoa is overrun by the Viet Minh after a week's siege. Wikipedia →
1949The Knesset (parliament of Israel) convenes for the first time. Wikipedia →
1949The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. Wikipedia →
1947The act abolishing all noble ranks and related styles comes into force in Hungary. Wikipedia →
1946The Bank of England is nationalized. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1945World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans Wikipedia →
1945President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1943World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated. Wikipedia →
1943World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a counter-attack against Allied positions in Tunisia. Wikipedia →
1942World War II: Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore. Wikipedia →
1939World War II: German battleship Bismarck is launched. Wikipedia →
1929Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago. Wikipedia →
1924The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Wikipedia →
1920The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago. Wikipedia →
1919The Polish–Soviet War begins. Wikipedia →
1918Soviet Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar. Wikipedia →
1912Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state. Wikipedia →
1912The U.S. Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines. Wikipedia →
1903The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor). Wikipedia →
1900The British Army begins the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith. Wikipedia →
1899Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections. Wikipedia →
1879The War of the Pacific breaks out when the Chilean Army occupies the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta. Wikipedia →
1876Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray. Wikipedia →
1859Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state. Wikipedia →
1855Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas. Wikipedia →
1852Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London. Wikipedia →
1849In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken. Wikipedia →
1835The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio. Wikipedia →
1831Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay. Wikipedia →
1804Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1779American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia. Wikipedia →
1779James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1655The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655. Wikipedia →
1613Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate at Whitehall Palace, London. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1556Coronation of Akbar as ruler of the Mughal Empire. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
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. Wikipedia →
1130The troubled 1130 papal election exposes a rift within the College of Cardinals. Wikipedia →
1014Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor. Wikipedia →
842Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages. Wikipedia →
763The death of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah marks the end of the Alid revolt of 762–763. Wikipedia →
748Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt. Wikipedia →

From The Guardian Archives — On This Day

2022The Guardian
Twenty minutes of daily exercise may cut heart disease risk in over-70s
Long-term study suggests 20-40 minutes a day can be protective, especially for people aged 70-75
Read on The Guardian →
2013The Guardian
Al-Qaida strategy in north Africa revealed in document found in Mali
In apparently genuine manifesto, senior commander tells his men they tried to impose Islamic law too quickly
Read on The Guardian →
1991The New York Times
No Stupid Tricks For Smart-Set Dogs
As the producer of a comedy television program that over the years has featured dogs bowling, dogs balancing on rods,…
Read on NYTimes.com →

Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform · Historic front pages via the NYT Archive API

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform and the NYT Archive API. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.