2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.
1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.
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.
1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.
1949 – The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.
1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet's Vistula–Oder Offensive.
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.
1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.
1912 – The US Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.
1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
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.
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.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.
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.
Births
1993 – Shane Harper, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. His self-titled debut album was released on February 14, 2012.
1988 – Asia Nitollano, American singer and dancer. After winning the television series Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll, Nitollano became a member of the Pussycat Dolls, only to leave a few months later to pursue a solo career.
1985 – Tyler Clippard, American baseball player. Tyler Lee Clippard (born February 14, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB).
1981 – Brad Halsey, American baseball player (d. 2014), was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees in 2004, for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005, and for the Oakland Athletics in 2006.
1980 – Josh Senter, American screenwriter and producer. Joshua Ray Senter (born 14 February 1979) is an American screenwriter best known for his work on the television series Desperate Housewives.
1977 – Robert J. Jackson Jr., American Corporate & Securities Law Professor. Jackson Jr. (born February 14, 1977) is an American lawyer and academic.
1973 – Steve McNair, American football player (d. 2009), was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He spent most of his career with the Houston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans and also played for the Baltimore Ravens.
1973 – Tyus Edney, American basketball player and coach, was most recently a college assistant coach for the UCLA Bruins. Listed at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), he played point guard for UCLA from 1991 to 1995, leading the Bruins to the 1995 NCAA National Championship.
1972 – Drew Bledsoe, American football player and coach. Drew McQueen Bledsoe (born February 14, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played fourteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots.
1968 – Jules Asner, American model and television host. Jules Asner (born Julie Ann White; February 14, 1968) is a screenwriter and author as well as a former entertainment journalist, television personality and model.
1968 – Scott McClellan, American civil servant and author, 25th White House Press Secretary, was the twenty-second White House Press Secretary (2003–06) for President George W. Bush, and author of a controversial No. 1 New York Times bestseller about the Bush Administration titled What Happened.
1967 – Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Greek-English businessman, founded easyJet. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Greek: Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου; born 14 February 1967) is a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur.
1964 – Valente Rodriguez, American actor and producer. He also starred as Cesar in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced.
1963 – John Marzano, American baseball player (d. 2008), was an American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners, from 1987 to 1992 and 1995 to 1998. Generally utilized as a backup catcher, Marzano was a member of division champions with the 1988 and 1990 Red Sox, and the 1997 Mariners, for whom he posted a .287 batting average.
1960 – Jim Kelly, American football player and businessman. James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons all with the Buffalo Bills.
1960 – Meg Tilly, American actress and author. Meg Tilly (born Margaret Elizabeth Chan; February 14, 1960) is a Canadian-American actress and novelist.
1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress. Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions.
1956 – Dave Dravecky, American baseball player. David Francis Dravecky (born February 14, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player, a motivational speaker, and an author.
1956 – Howard Davis, Jr., American boxer and trainer (d. 2015). Howard Davis is the name of:
1955 – Carol Kalish, American publisher (d. 1991), was an American writer, editor, comic book retailer, and sales manager. She worked as Direct Sales Manager and Vice President of New Product Development at Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1991.
1951 – Terry Gross, American radio host and producer. Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR.
1948 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican-American actress and dancer. Kitten Natividad (born Francesca Isabel Natividad in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua State, Mexico; 13 February 1948) is a Mexican American film actress, exotic dancer and porn star, noted for her 44-inch chest and appearances in cult films by her ex-partner, director Russ Meyer.
1947 – Judd Gregg, American lawyer and politician, 76th Governor of New Hampshire. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics.
1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975), was an American vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and producer. His music and style changed considerably through the years.
1946 – Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003), was an American dancer, actor, singer, and choreographer.
1945 – Rod Masterson, American lieutenant and actor (d. 2013), was an American film and television actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author. Carl Bernstein (/ˈbɜːrnstiːn/ BURN-steen; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author.
1943 – Aaron Russo, American director and producer (d. 2007), was an American entertainment businessman, film producer and director, and political activist. He was best known for producing such movies as Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose.
1943 – Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter. Eric Andersen (born February 14, 1943) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others.
1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist. Maceo Parker (/ˈmeɪsioʊ/; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s.
1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City. He was mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.
1941 – Donna Shalala, American academic and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001.
1941 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (d. 1997), was an American politician. He represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress, holding office from 1975 to 1985.
1940 – James Maynard, American businessman, co-founded Golden Corral. Maynard (born February 14, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and is the Chairman & CEO of the Investors Management Corporation, a holding company for food service and service industries, the largest of which is Golden Corral Corporation.
1939 – Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate. Eugene Francis "Gene" Fama (/ˈfɑːmə/; born February 14, 1939) is an American economist, best known for his empirical work on portfolio theory, asset pricing, and the efficient-market hypothesis.
1939 – Razzy Bailey, American country music singer-songwriter ans musician. Rasie Michael Bailey (born February 14, 1939) is an American country music artist, known professionally as Razzy Bailey.
1937 – Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969), was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter.
1934 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (d. 2016), was an American actress and singer with a career spanning six decades. She is best remembered for her starring role as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.
1931 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2006), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered as one of the innovators of the slapshot, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.
1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor and director (d. 1982), was an American actor and director whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s ABC television series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and film dramas, and numerous guest roles on television. Morrow also gained notice for his roles in movies Blackboard Jungle (1955), King Creole (1958), God's Little Acre (1958), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), and The Bad News Bears (1976).
1928 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (d. 2014), was a Chamoru United States Marine Corps Brigadier General from the United States territory of Guam. Blaz served in the Marine Corps from 1951 until July 1, 1980.
1928 – William Allain, American soldier and politician, 58th Governor of Mississippi (d. 2013), was an American politician who held office as the 59th Governor of Mississippi as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988.
1923 – Jay Hebert, American golfer (d. 1997), was an American professional golfer. He won seven times on the PGA Tour including the 1960 PGA Championship.
1921 – Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer. Hugh Malcolm Downs (born February 14, 1921) is a retired American broadcaster, television host, news anchor, TV producer, author, game show host, and music composer.
1917 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011), was an American mathematician and Nobel laureate. He pioneered and developed a mathematical method that has changed the whole field of chemistry and opened a new era in research in determination of molecular structures of crystallized materials.
1916 – Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974), was an American actor best known for his portrayal of "The Chief" in the 1965-70 NBC/CBS television series Get Smart. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an eclectic mix of characters over the span of his career.
1913 – James Pike, American bishop (d. 1969), was an American Episcopal bishop, prolific writer, and one of the first mainline religious figures to appear regularly on television.
1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (d. 1975), was an American labor union leader who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971.
1913 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster (d. 1996), was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions.
1913 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (d. 1987). He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951–1978), compiling a career college football record of 238 wins, 72 losses, and 10 ties.
1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor (d. 2009), was a pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs. Willem is a member of the Kolff family, an old Dutch patrician family.
1907 – Johnny Longden, English-American jockey and trainer (d. 2003). As a trainer:Kentucky Derby (1969)Preakness Stakes (1969)
1905 – Thelma Ritter, American actress and singer (d. 1969), was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working-class characters and her strong New York accent. She received six Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress—more than any other actress in that category—and won one Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
1903 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (d. 1967), was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
1900 – Jessica Dragonette, American singer (d. 1980), was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort.
1898 – Fritz Zwicky, Swiss-American physicist and astronomer (d. 1974), was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California Institute of Technology in the United States of America, where he made many important contributions in theoretical and observational astronomy.
1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and producer (d. 1974), was an American comedian, vaudevillian, radio, television and film actor, and violinist. Recognized as a leading 20th-century American entertainer, Benny often portrayed his character as a miser, who obliviously played his violin badly, and ridiculously claimed to be 39 years of age, regardless of his actual age.
1891 – Katherine Stinson, American aviator (d. 1977), was a pioneering American aviator. She set flying records for aerobatic maneuvers, distance, and endurance.
1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942), was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist, but appeared on stage together with his father Maurice in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year.
1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896), was an American civil engineer. He is mostly known for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.
1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist (d. 1919), was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States.
1846 – Julian Scott, American soldier and drummer, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1901). Scott (February 14, 1846 – July 4, 1901), was born in Johnson, Vermont, and served as a Union Army drummer during the American Civil War, where he received America's highest military decoration the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Lee's Mills.
1838 – Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (d. 1914), was an American inventor, notably of the flat-bottomed paper bag. She has been called "the most famous 19th-century woman inventor".
1824 – Winfield Scott Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1886), was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican–American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War.
1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter (d. 1890), was an American inventor who invented the QWERTY keyboard, and along with Samuel W. Soule, Carlos Glidden and John Pratt, has been contended as one of the inventors of the first typewriter in the United States.
1800 – Emory Washburn, American historian, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1877), was a United States lawyer, politician, and historian. He was Governor of Massachusetts for one term (from 1854 to 1855), and served for many years on the faculty of Harvard Law School.
Deaths
2016 – Steven Stucky, American composer and academic (b. 1949)
2015 – Louis Jourdan, French-American actor and singer (b. 1921)
2014 – Jim Fregosi, American baseball player and manager (b. 1942)
2014 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Alaska Territory (b. 1919)
2013 – Glenn Boyer, American historian and author (b. 1924)
2013 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (b. 1931)
2013 – T.L. Osborn, American evangelist and author (b. 1923)
2012 – Dory Previn, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
2011 – George Shearing, English-American pianist and composer (b. 1919)
2010 – Doug Fieger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1952)
2009 – Bernard Ashley, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Laura Ashley plc (b. 1926)
2009 – Louie Bellson, American drummer and composer (b. 1924)
1999 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
1999 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer and politician, 12th White House Counsel (b. 1925)
1995 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (b. 1923)
1994 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (b. 1932)
1989 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (b. 1900)
1988 – Frederick Loewe, German-American composer (b. 1901)
1979 – Adolph Dubs, American lieutenant and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (b. 1920)
1975 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and eugenicist, co-founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (b. 1887)
1969 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
1967 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (b. 1884)
1959 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (b. 1898)
1950 – Karl Guthe Jansky, American physicist and engineer (b. 1905)
1948 – Mordecai Brown, American baseball player and manager (b. 1876)
1891 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (b. 1820)
1881 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1812)
1870 – St. John Richardson Liddell, American general (b. 1815)
1808 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and politician 5th Governor of Delaware (b. 1732)
1744 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (b. 1682)