TODAY IN history

In AD 270 (traditional), Valentine, a priest in Rome during the reign of Claudius II, was beheaded. A reason for his later relationship to the romantic holiday: Claudius, seeking to more easily recruit troops, nixed family ties by forbidding marriage. Valentine ignored the order and performed secret marriages — an act that led to his arrest and execution.

In 1349, about 2,000 Jews were burned at the stake in Strasbourg, France.

In 1477, Margery Brews sent a letter to John Paston in Norfolk, England, addressed “To my right welbelovyd Voluntyne,” thought to be the world’s first Valentine.

In 1663, Canada became a royal province of France.

In 1835, Joseph Smith chose the 12 apostles of the Mormon Church.

In 1836, more than 1,600 people were killed by a disastrous fire at a theatre in Canton, China.

In 1879, “La Marseillaise” became the national anthem of France.

In 1890, fire caused $500,000 damage at the University of Toronto.

In 1918, a fire at Grey Nuns Orphanage in Montreal took the lives of 64 children.