Circa 270:

• Saint Valentine was thought to have been martyred by Roman Emperor Claudius II.

1766:

• Thomas Robert Malthus, economist and author of An Essay On The Principles Of Population (1798), was born. He saw famine, disease and disaster as a method of controlling the earth’s fast-growing population.

1779:

• Captain James Cook, British explorer, was murdered by natives in Hawaii.

1822:

• Britain’s postal services had to employ extra sorters as the fashion of sending messages to loved ones on this day continued to grow in popularity.

1895:

• The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde had its premiere in London.

1929:

• The St Valentine’s Day Massacre took place in a Chicago warehouse. Seven members of Bugs Moran’s gang were gunned down, probably by mobsters from Al Capone’s outfit.

1946:

• The Bank of England was nationalised.

1975:

• Sir Pelham Grenville (PG) Wodehouse, KBE, known as ‘Plum’ and writer of many humorous novels, notably the Jeeves series, died aged 93.

1984:

• Britain’s Torvill and Dean skated their way to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

2013:

• Olympic and ParalympicstarOscarPistorius was arrested on suspicion of murder after his girlfriend was shot dead at his home.

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ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:

DUP leader Arlene Foster announced there was “no prospect” of a return to devolved government in Northern Ireland, after a 13-month impasse.