February 14

This article is about the date. For the 2005 film, see February 14 (film). For the Maldivian television series, see 14 February (TV series).

February 14 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Saturday)

February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 320 days remain until the end of the year (321 in leap years).

It 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.
• 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 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.
• 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 USS Ranger, 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 – 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 USS Quincy, 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.
• 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized.
• 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 1,000 kg 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.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher (d. 1472)
• 1408 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (d. 1435)
• 1452 – Pandolfo Petrucci, tyrant of Siena (d. 1512)
• 1468 – Johannes Werner, German priest and mathematician (d. 1522)
• 1483 – Babur, Moghul emperor (d. 1530)
• 1490 – Valentin Friedland, German scholar and educationist of the Reformation (d. 1556)
• 1513 – Domenico Ferrabosco, Italian composer (d. 1573)
• 1545 – Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara (d. 1561)

1601–1900

• 1602 – Francesco Cavalli, Italian composer (d. 1676)
• 1614 – John Wilkins, English bishop, academic and natural philosopher (d. 1672)
• 1625 – Countess Palatine Maria Euphrosyne of Zweibrücken, Swedish princess (d. 1687)
• 1628 – Valentine Greatrakes, Irish faith healer (d. 1683)
• 1640 – Countess Palatine Anna Magdalena of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler (d. 1693)
• 1670 – Rajaram Raj Bhonsle, third Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1700)
• 1679 – Georg Friedrich Kauffmann, German organist and composer (d. 1735)
• 1692 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French author and playwright (d. 1754)
• 1701 – Enrique Flórez, Spanish historian and author (d. 1773)
• 1763 – Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general (d. 1813)
• 1782 – Eleanora Atherton, English philanthropist (d. 1870)
• 1784 – Heinrich Baermann, German clarinetist (d. 1847)
• 1799 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter and illustrator (d. 1842)
• 1800 – Emory Washburn, American historian, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877)
• 1808 – Michael Costa, Italian-English conductor and composer (d. 1884)
• 1812 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (d. 1881)
• 1813 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (d. 1884)
• 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (d. 1890)
• 1824 – Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1886)
• 1828 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (d. 1885)
• 1835 – Piet Paaltjens, Dutch minister and poet (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (d. 1914)
• 1846 – Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1901)
• 1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist (d. 1919)
• 1848 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer and academic (d. 1934)
• 1855 – Frank Harris, Irish author and journalist (d. 1931)
• 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896)
• 1860 – Eugen Schiffer, German lawyer and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 1954)
• 1869 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• 1878 – Julius Nieuwland, Belgian priest, chemist and academic (d. 1936)
• 1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)
• 1884 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish actor and director (d. 1947)
• 1884 – Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist (d. 1956)
• 1890 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh-English painter and author (d. 1956)
• 1890 – Dick Richards, Welsh international footballer (d. 1934)
• 1891 – Katherine Stinson, American aviator (d. 1977)
• 1892 – Radola Gajda, Czech commander and politician (d. 1948)
• 1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and producer (d. 1974)
• 1895 – Wilhelm Burgdorf, German general (d. 1945)
• 1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Bill Tilman, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Jessica Dragonette, American singer (d. 1980)

1901–present

• 1902 – Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (d. 1969)
• 1903 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967)
• 1907 – Johnny Longden, English-American jockey and trainer (d. 2003)
• 1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian lawyer, explorer, and author (d. 1988)
• 1913 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (d. 1987)
• 1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (d. 1975)
• 1913 – James Pike, American bishop (d. 1969)
• 1915 – Sally Gray, English actress and singer (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Marcel Bigeard, French general (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese director and producer (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1917 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer (d. 2020)
• 1921 – Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 3rd Mayor of Mississauga (d. 2023)
• 1923 – Jay Hebert, American golfer (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Juan Ponce Enrile, Filipino politician
• 1924 – Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (d. 2017)
• 1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress (d. 2007)
• 1928 – William Allain, American lawyer and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor and director (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Brian Kelly, American actor and director (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Harriet Andersson, Swedish actress
• 1934 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
• 1935 – David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, Scottish academic and diplomat, 27th Governor of Hong Kong
• 1936 – Anna German, Polish singer (d. 1982)
• 1937 – John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport
• 1937 – Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969)
• 1939 – Razzy Bailey, American country music singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2021)
• 1939 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 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 (d. 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 (d. 1962)
• 1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist
• 1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author
• 1944 – Alan Parker, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
• 1944 – Ronnie Peterson, Swedish racing driver (d. 1978)
• 1945 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
• 1945 – Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauru politician, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
• 1946 – Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)
• 1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
• 1947 – Judd Gregg, American lawyer and politician, 76th Governor of New Hampshire
• 1947 – Phạm Tuân, Vietnamese aviator and cosmonaut
• 1948 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American actress and dancer (d. 2022)
• 1948 – Pat O'Brien, American journalist and author
• 1948 – Wally Tax, Dutch singer-songwriter (d. 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
• 1952 – Sushma Swaraj, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2019)
• 1954 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (d. 2013)
• 1955 – Carol Kalish, American publisher (d. 1991)
• 1956 – Howard Davis Jr., American boxer and trainer (d. 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
• 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 – 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 (d. 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 (d. 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 (d. 2014)
• 1981 – Kara Lawson, American basketball player and coach
• 1981 – Jared Lorenzen, American football player (d. 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 – 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 – 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

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 869 – Cyril, Greek missionary bishop (b. 827)
• 945 – Lian Chongyu, Chinese general
• 945 – Zhu Wenjin, Chinese emperor
• 1009 – Bruno of Querfurt, German missionary bishop
• 1010 – Fujiwara no Korechika, Japanese nobleman (b. 974)
• 1140 – Leo I, Armenian prince
• 1140 – Sobĕslav I, duke of Bohemia
• 1164 – Sviatoslav Olgovich, Kievan prince
• 1229 – Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, king of the Isles
• 1317 – Margaret of France, queen of England
• 1400 – Richard II, king of England (b. 1367)
• 1440 – Dietrich of Oldenburg, German nobleman
• 1489 – Nicolaus von Tüngen, prince-bishop of Warmia
• 1528 – Edzard I, German nobleman (b. 1462)
• 1549 – Il Sodoma, Italian painter (b. 1477)

1601–1900

• 1676 – Abraham Bosse, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1602)
• 1714 – Maria Luisa of Savoy, queen of Spain (b. 1688)
• 1737 – Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, English lawyer and politician Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1685)
• 1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682)
• 1755 – Isidro de Espinosa, Franciscan missionary from Spanish Texas (b. 1679)
• 1779 – James Cook, English captain, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1728)
• 1780 – William Blackstone, English jurist and politician (b. 1723)
• 1782 – Singu Min, Burmese king (b. 1756)
• 1808 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and politician 5th Governor of Delaware (b. 1732)
• 1831 – Vicente Guerrero, Mexican general and politician, 2nd President of Mexico (b. 1782)
• 1831 – Henry Maudslay, English engineer (b. 1771)
• 1870 – St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (b. 1815)
• 1881 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1812)
• 1884 – Lydia Hamilton Smith, African-American businesswoman (b. 1813)
• 1885 – Jules Vallès, French journalist and author (b. 1832)
• 1891 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (b. 1820)
• 1894 – Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (b. 1814)

1901–present

• 1910 – Giovanni Passannante, Italian anarchist (b. 1849)
• 1922 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (b. 1880; assassinated)
• 1923 – Charles Henry Turner, American zoologist, educator, and comparative psychologist (b. 1867)
• 1929 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and lawyer (b. 1875)
• 1930 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1853)
• 1933 – Carl Correns, German botanist and geneticist (b. 1864)
• 1937 – Erkki Melartin, Finnish composer (b. 1875)
• 1942 – Adnan Saidi, Malayan lieutenant (b. 1915)
• 1943 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (b. 1899)
• 1943 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1862)
• 1948 – Mordecai Brown, American baseball player and manager (b. 1876)
• 1949 – Yusuf Salman Yusuf, Iraqi politician (b. 1901)
• 1950 – Karl Guthe Jansky, American physicist and engineer (b. 1905)
• 1952 – Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
• 1958 – Abdur Rab Nishtar, Pakistani politician, 2nd Governor of Punjab (b. 1899)
• 1959 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (b. 1898)
• 1967 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
• 1969 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
• 1970 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (b. 1880)
• 1974 – Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer and coach (b. 1903)
• 1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887)
• 1975 – P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist and playwright (b. 1881)
• 1976 – Gertrud Dorka, German archaeologist, prehistorian and museum director (b. 1893)
• 1979 – Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (b. 1920)
• 1983 – Lina Radke, German runner and coach (b. 1903)
• 1986 – Edmund Rubbra, English composer and conductor (b. 1901)
• 1987 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1904)
• 1988 – Frederick Loewe, German-American composer (b. 1901)
• 1989 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (b. 1900)
• 1989 – Vincent Crane, English pianist (b. 1943)
• 1994 – Andrei Chikatilo, Soviet serial killer (b. 1936)
• 1994 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (b. 1932)
• 1995 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (b. 1923)
• 1995 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (b. 1919)
• 1998 – Peter Koch (wood scientist), American industrial engineer and wood scientist (b. 1920)
• 1999 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer and politician, 12th White House Counsel (b. 1925)
• 1999 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
• 2002 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1922)
• 2002 – Mick Tucker, English drummer (b. 1947)
• 2003 – Johnny Longden, English jockey and trainer (b. 1907)
• 2004 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (b. 1970)
• 2005 – Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1944; assassinated)
• 2006 – Lynden David Hall, English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1974)
• 2007 – Ryan Larkin, Canadian animator and director (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Gareth Morris, English flute player and educator (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Perry Lopez, American actor (b. 1929)
• 2009 – Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (b. 1926)
• 2009 – Louie Bellson, American drummer and composer (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Doug Fieger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
• 2010 – Dick Francis, Welsh jockey and author (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Linnart Mäll, Estonian historian, orientalist, and translator (b. 1938)
• 2011 – George Shearing, English-American pianist and composer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Mike Bernardo, South African boxer and martial artist (b. 1969)
• 2012 – Tonmi Lillman, Finnish drummer and producer (b. 1973)
• 2012 – Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Péter Rusorán, Hungarian swimmer, water polo player, and coach (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Glenn Boyer, American historian and author (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Tom Finney, English footballer (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Chris Pearson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Yukon (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Alaska Territory (b. 1919)
• 2015 – Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Philip Levine, American poet and academic (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (b. 1920)
• 2016 – Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, English lieutenant, engineer, and politician (b. 1928)
• 2016 – Steven Stucky, American composer and academic (b. 1949)
• 2018 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician and diplomat, Prime Minister and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1939)
• 2018 – Morgan Tsvangirai, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (b. 1952)
• 2021 – Carlos Menem, Argentine former president, lawyer, and statesman (b. 1930)
• 2021 – William Meninger, American Trappist monk and a principal developer of Centering Prayer (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Cyril and Methodius, patron saints of Europe (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Manchan
  • Valentine (see also Valentine's Day)
  • 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)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on February 14