February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Day In History

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 rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

1797

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.

1849

In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

1876

Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

1912

In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned.

1924

The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

2000

The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

Famous Birthdays

1766

Thomas Robert Malthus, English demographer and political economist (d. 1834)

1818

Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist (d. 1895)

1838

Margaret E. Knight, American inventor, (d. 1914)

1894

Jack Benny, American actor and comedian (d. 1974)

1948

Teller, American magician

1953

Paul O. Zelinsky, American author and illustrator of children's books

1970

Simon Pegg, British comedian and actor