This day in history

[Krustee]

Some interesting tidbits of trivia for this speshul day in history:

Feb 14

The eve of the Roman feast of Lupercalia. Naked youths would run through Rome, anointed with the blood of sacrificed dogs and goats, waving thongs cut from the goats.
If a young woman was struck by the thong, fertility was assured.
Pope Gelasius I decided this was a bit too much, and co-opted the Roman holiday to be the Feast of St. Valentine in 484 A.D.

Feb 14 1779

English explorer Captain James Cook and some of his crew are slaughtered by angry Hawaiian islanders, after he tried to take a Hawaiian chief hostage over a dispute regarding a stolen boat.

Feb 14 1929

The Capone gang kills six members of the "Bugs" Moran gang and one other person at the S.M.C. Cartage company in Chicago, in an event known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
Bogus police officers were used so that it appeared to be a routine police bust.
Except for all the bodies.

Feb 14 1979

Walter Carlos, the musician who created "Switched on Bach" and the score of "A Clockwork Orange", reveals to the world that he has had a sex change operation and is henceforth to be referred to as Wendy.

Feb 14 1989

Ayatollah Khomeini issues a takfir against Salman Rushdie, for his writings in the Satanic Verses.
The act propels the otherwise uninteresting book into a bestseller.

 

[FortunateOne]

February 14in History

1978 1st "micro on a chip" patented by Texas Instruments

Penicillin Discovered
14th February ( 1929 ) : Sir Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillin after leaving a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, he noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the bacteria. Many Medical Breakthroughs have changed Health Care but none have had such an impact more than this.

1948 U.S.A. NASCAR

14th February, 1948 : NASCAR holds its first race for modified stock cars on a 3.2 mile-course at Daytona Beach

1933 U.S.A. Banking Problems

14th February, 1933: Governor William A. Comstock had declared an eight-day bank holiday-really a temporary moratorium. This decision was made in light of the current financial emergency that was taking place in the city of Detroit and the rest of the state of Michigan. The main reason for this temporary bank closure was because of the Detroit Ford Motor Company’s refusal to entrust its deposits to the Union Guardian Trust. Governor Comstock felt that it would help protect the interest of small depositors.