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Revolutionary War
A Patriot militia force of 340 led by Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina with Colonel John Dooly and Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke of Georgia defeats a larger force of 700 Loyalist militia commanded by Colonel James Boyd on February 14th in 1779 at Kettle Creek, Georgia. -
Teddy Roosevelt
On February 14th, 1884, Teddy Roosevelt was at work in the New York state legislature attempting to get a government reform bill passed when he was summoned home by his family. He returned home to find his mother, Mittie, had succumbed to typhoid fever. On the same day just hours later, his wife of four years, Alice Lee, died of Bright’s disease, a severe kidney ailment. Only two days before her death, Alice Lee had given birth to the couple’s daughter, Alice. -
Transcontinental Railroad
The first trainload of oranges leaves Los Angeles, California, on February 14th, 1886 via the transcontinental railroad. Los Angeles would become the largest urban center in the American West. -
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of six mob associates and a mechanic of the North Side Irish gang during the Prohibition Era. It resulted from a power struggle between two gangs, one of which being led by Al Capone. -
Hedda Hopper
On this day in 1938, the former silent film actress Hedda Hopper pens the first installment of what would become her tremendously influential gossip column in the Los Angeles Times. -
World War II
February 14th, 1939- The German battleship Bismarck was launched. It would eventually sink the British fleet battlecruiser HMS Hood in the Battle of Denmark Strait. THe Bismarck would eventually be sunk by the British Royal Navy. -
Gallup Poll
Despite an increasingly active anti-war movement, a Gallup Poll that was released on February 14th, 1970, shows that a majority of those polled (55 percent) oppose an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. Those that favored American withdrawal had risen from 21 percent, in a November poll, to 35 percent. -
Stardust Fire Disaster
The Stardust fire occurred in the early hours of February 14, 1981, in Dublin, Ireland, in the Stardust nightclub. The fire started from an electrical incident, and ended up killing 48 people and injuring 214. -
Dan Jansen
On February 14, 1988, U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the 500-meter race at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, falls during competition, only hours after learning his sister had died of cancer. -
Sandinista
At the February 14th, 1989 meeting of the presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua agrees to free a number of political prisoners and hold free elections within a year; in return, Honduras promises to close bases being used by anti-Sandinista rebels.
