February 14 in history

Reynaldo Santos Jr

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Apart from Valentine's Day, there are other important events worth remembering on February 14

MANILA, Philippines – February 14 will always be known as Valentine’s Day.

But in the course of history, several other important events worth remembering, happened on this day. 

Here are some of them.

1876 Alexander Graham Bell applies for telephone patent

Two inventors, Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, separately apply for a patent for a device that would soon be called the telephone. A month after, the Supreme Court officially issues the patent to Graham Bell.

1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre occurs

Seven gangsters are killed in a conflict between two powerful criminal groups in Chicago. The incident is now commonly referred to as Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, and is considered as the most cold-blooded gang massacre in history.

1929 Penicillin is discovered

In one experiment, scientist Alexander Fleming leaves a plate of bacteria uncovered, and later finds out that mold killed many of the bacteria there. He calls the mold by-product “penicillin,” which has since been used to cure bacterial infections.

1961 Lawrencium is first synthesized

Lawrencium, element 103 in the periodic table of the elements, is first synthesized in Berkeley, California. It is named after Ernest Lawrence, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1939.

1962 A White House tour is televised
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts a televised White House tour. The tour is broadcast by CBS Television, and attracts 80 million viewers. It also earns Kennedy an honorary Emmy Award.

1984 Elton John gets married
Photo from AFP
Singer Elton John marries German engineer Renate Blauel in Australia, 6 years after revealing he is bisexual. They divorce 4 years after the wedding.

1990 The Solar System is photographed
Image from NASA
Space probe Voyager 1 takes a photograph of the entire Solar System. Called the Family Portrait or Portrait of the Planets, it is a mosaic of 60 frames that has captured 6 planets in a photo.

2000 Spacecraft orbits an asteroid for the first time
Image from NASA
The spacecraft Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker) begins orbiting asteroid 433 Eros. It is the first spacecraft that orbits an asteroid.

2003 Dolly, the sheep, is euthanized
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned, is euthanized due to a severe case of lung disease. The procedure is done 5 months before Dolly’s 7th birthday.


2005 YouTube is launched
Photo from AFP
YouTube is launched by 3 former PayPal employees who find it difficult to share videos they took from a dinner party early that year. It has since become the largest video-sharing website. – Rappler.com

Sources:

  • Wikipedia
  • http://www.historyorb.com/day/february/14
  • http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/february_14.html
  • http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/february14th.html
  • http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/February-14

Pills and stethoscope, vintage old telephone, and keyboard with lawrencium from Shutterstock

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