Today In History
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2023. There are 326 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY
In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses,” a novel condemned as blasphemous.
ON THIS DATE
› 1876: Inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied separately for patents related to the telephone. (The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled Bell the rightful inventor.)
› 1912: Arizona became the 48th state of the Union as President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation.
› 1913: Labor leader Jimmy Hoffa was born in Brazil, Indiana; college football coach Woody Hayes was born in Clifton, Ohio; sports broadcaster Mel Allen was born in Birmingham, Alabama.
› 1924: The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. of New York was formally renamed International Business Machines Corp., or IBM.
› 1929: The “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down.
› 1945: During World War II, British and Canadian forces reached the Rhine River in Germany.
› 1967: Aretha Franklin recorded her cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” at Atlantic Records in New York.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is 81. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 80. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 79. Former Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is 76. TV personality Pat O’Brien is 75. Magician Teller (Penn & Teller) is 75. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (Beausoleil) is 72. Actor Ken Wahl is 66. Opera singer Renee Fleming is
64. Actor Meg Tilly is
63. Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is 63. Actor Sakina Jaffrey is 61. Actor Enrico Colantoni is
60. Actor Zach Galligan is
59. Former tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 56. Actor Simon Pegg is 53. Rock musician Kevin Baldes (Lit) is 51. Rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) is 51. Former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe is 51. Actor Danai Gurira is 45. Actor Matt Barr is 39. Actor Stephanie Leonidas is 39. Actor Jake Lacy is 37. Actor Freddie Highmore is 31.