ON THIS DAY
ST VALENTINE’S DAY
CIRCA 270: St 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 fastgrowing 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 affectionately as ‘Plum’ and writer of many humorous novels, notably the Jeeves series, died in the United States, aged 93.
1984: Britain’s Torvill and Dean skated their way to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, getting maximum points for artistic expression.
2013: Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius was arrested on suspicion of murder after his girlfriend was shot dead at his home.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Celebrations were held to mark the Angel of the North turning 20.
BIRTHDAYS: Carl Bernstein, Watergate journalist, 75; Alan Parker, film director, 75; Kevin Keegan, former footballer and ex-England manager, 68; Meg Tilly, actress, 59; Simon Pegg, actor/ comedian, 49; Dean Gaffney, actor, 41; Rhydian Roberts, singer, 36; David Wheater, footballer, 32.