On this day...

1349 2,000 Jews burned at the stake in Strasbourg, Germany
1778 "Stars & Stripes" arrives in foreign port for first time (France)
1794 First US textile machinery patent granted, to James Davenport, Philadelphia
1803 Apple parer patented by Moses Coats
1848 James K. Polk became first President photographed in office
1859 Oregon admitted as 33rd state
1862 Galena, first US iron-clad warship for service at sea, launched
1867 Morehouse College organizes in Augusta, Georgia
1872 First state bird refuge authorized, Lake Merritt, CA
1876 A.G. Bell & Elisha Gray apply separately for telephone patents; Supreme Court eventually rules Bell the inventor
1883 First state labor union legislation; NJ legalizes unions
1889 First trainload of fruit (oranges) leaves Los Angeles for the east
1903 US Dept of Commerce & Labor established
1907 First US fox hound association forms in NYC
1912 First US submarines with diesel engines commissioned, Groton, CT
1912 Arizona becomes 48th state
1918 USSR adopts New Style (Gregorian) calendar
1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, 7 gangsters killed
1936 National Negro Congress organizes in Chicago
1946 Bank of England nationalized
1949 First session of Knesset opens in Jerusalem
1951 Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta & takes middleweight title
1952 6th Winter Olympic games opens in Oslo
1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at USSR Communist Party Conference
1958 Arab Federation of Iraq & Jordan comes into force
1961 Element 103, Lawrencium, first produced in Berkeley, CA
1962 First lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV
1966 Australia introduces first decimal currency postage stamps
1966 Wilt Chamberlain breaks NBA career scoring record at 20,884 points
1967 Aretha Franklin records "Respect"
1971 Movie "Ben Hur" first shown on television
1971 Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in White House
1972 USSR launches Luna 20; unmanned probe soft-lands on Moon, returns
1980 13th Winter Olympic games open in Lake Placid, NY
1980 US launches Solar Maximum Mission Observatory to study solar flares
1985 Hostage CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is released in Beirut
1988 Bobby Allison at 50 becomes oldest driver to win Daytona 500
1988 General hospital star Jackie Zeman marries Glenn Gorden
1989 Boxer Mike Tyson & actress Robin Given divorce
1989 Khomeini orders Moslems to murder "Satanic Verses" novelist
1989 Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million in damages for Bhopol disaster

Birthdays which occurred on February 14th:

1760 Richard Allen, Philadelphia, first black ordained by Methodist-Episcopal church
1766 Thomas Malthus, population expert
1845 Cecil De Vere, first official British chess champion (1866)
1856 Frank Harris, England, journalist/writer (My Life & Loves)
1858 Joseph Thomson, Scotland, geologist (Thomson's gazelle)
1859 George Washington Gale Ferris, engineer/inventor (Ferris Wheel)
1869 Charles Wilson, English physicist (Wilson Cloud Chamber-Nobel)
1882 George Jean Nathan, US, editor/author/critic (American Mercury)
1894 Jack Benny [Benny Kubelski], Waukegan, Ill, comedian
1899 John Randall, Jr., Michigan, historian/philosopher (Western Man)
1902 Fred Scott, Fresno Calif, singer/actor (Vincent Lopez)
1902 Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Milwaukee, cowboy (Crash Corrigan's Ranch)
1902 Stu Erwin, Squaw Valley Calif, actor (Stu Erwin Show)
1905 Thelma Ritter, Bkln NY, actress (Miracle on 34th Street)
1907 Johnny Longden, jockey/trainer (1958 Racing Hall of Fame)
1913 Jimmy Hoffa, infamous Teamsters leader
1913 Mel Allen, Birmingham Alabama, sportscaster (voice of the NY Yankees)
1916 Edward Platt, Staten Island NY, actor (Chief-Get Smart)
1917 Herbert A. Hauptman, NYC, x-ray crystallographer (Nobel 1985)
1921 Hugh Downs, Akron OH, TV journalist (20/20, Concentration)
1923 Jay Herbert, golfer (1960 PGA winner)
1931 Phyllis McGuire, Middletown Oh, singer (McGuire Sisters)
1932 Vic Morrow, Bronx NY, actor (Combat, Roots, Twilight Zone the Movie)
1934 Florence Henderson, Dale IN, actress/singer (Carol-Brady Bunch)
1943 Eric Anderson, Pittsburgh PA, singer (Avalanche, Be True to You)
1944 Alan Parker, actor (Bugsy Malone)
1944 Carl Bernstein, Washington Post investigative reporter (Watergate)
1945 Gregory Hines, NYC, actor/dancer (White Nights, Taps)
1946 Tim Buckley, rocker (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
1946 Tina Aumont, Hollywood Calif, actress (Master of Love)
1947 Pham Tuan, first Vietnamese space traveler (Soyuz 37)
1948 Pat O'Brien, reporter (Entertainment Tonight)
1949 Ewa Aulin, Stockholm Sweden, actress (Candy, Fiorina LeVacca)
1949 Jackie Martlin, "Jackie the Jokeman", comedian (Howard Stern Show)
1956 Dave Dravecky, pitcher (SF Giants), had arm amputated due to cancer
1960 Jim Kelly, NFL quarterback (Buffalo Bills)
1960 Ken Wahl, actor (Wanderers, Wise Guys)
1960 Meg Tilly [Margaret], LA, actress (Big Chill, Impulse)
1963 Zach Galligan, actor (Gremlins)

Deaths which occurred on February 14th:

1779 James Cook, British explorer
1831 Vincente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary hero
1891 William Tecumseh Sherman, Union Civil War general, dies at 71
1950 Karl Jansky, discoverer of cosmic radio sources
1967 Sig Ruman, actor (Schultz-Life With Luigi), dies at 82
1979 Adolph Dubs, US ambassador to Afghanistan, murdered