What are the important events that happened on February 14? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 14: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 14 is the 45^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 321 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 1, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,464,480 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘tetracontapentagon’ day.

Aquarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 350 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,072 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 14 Historical Events

• 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.
• 1076 –
  Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1349 –
  Approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg.
• 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.
• 1831 –
  Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
• 1918 –
  The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).
• 1924 –
  The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
• 1953 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Water Snake in Chinese astrology.
• 1961 –
  Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

Who were born on February 14?

• 1692 –
  Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (d. 1754)
• 1824 –
  Winfield Scott Hancock, American Civil War general (d. 1886)
• 1860 –
  Eugen Schiffer, German politician (d. 1954)
• 1922 –
  Murray the K, American impresario and disk jockey (d. 1982)
• 1941 –
  Donna Shalala, American educator
• 1948 –
  Teller, American magician (Penn and Teller)
• 1951 –
  JoJo Starbuck, American ice skater
• 1967 –
  Manuela Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
• 1986 –
  Tiffany Thornton, American actress
• 1992 –
  Freddie Highmore, English actor

Who died on February 14?

• 869 –
  Saint Cyril, Greek monk, scholar, theologian and linguist (b. 827)
• 1922 –
  Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (assassinated) (b. 1880)
• 1943 –
  David Hilbert, German mathematician (b. 1862)
• 1948 –
  Mordecai Brown, American baseball player (b. 1876)
• 1952 –
  Maurice De Waele, Belgian cyclist (b. 1896)
• 1969 –
  Vito Genovese, American gangster (b. 1897)
• 1970 –
  Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880).
• 1994 –
  Rodney Orr American racing driver (b. 1962)
• 2007 –
  Gareth Morris, British flautist (b. 1920)
• 2009 –
  John McGlinn, American conductor (b. 1953)