Today is Sunday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2021. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day.
Today in history
On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman identified as a former student opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., killing 17 people in the nation’s deadliest school shooting since the attack in Newtown, Conn., more than five years earlier.
Also on this date:
In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France.
In 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.)
In 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union as President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation.
In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its first president was Maud Wood Park.
In 1929, the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down.
In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian forces reached the Rhine River in Germany.
In 1967, Aretha Franklin recorded her cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” at Atlantic Records in New York.
Fun fact
In the U.S. alone, 189 million stems of roses are given on Valentine’s Day.
Just for laughs
I once swallowed a book of synonyms.
It gave me thesaurus throat I’ve ever had.
Trending words
“Ragamuffin:” noun; (RAG-uh-muf-in). Definition: A ragged often disreputable person; especially: a poorly clothed often dirty child.
— Merriam-Webster
Today’s birthdays
Actor Andrew Prine is 85. Country singer Razzy Bailey is 82. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is 79. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 78. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 77. TV personality Pat O’Brien is 73. Magician Teller (Penn and Teller) is 73. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (Beausoleil) is 70. Actor Ken Wahl is 64. Opera singer Renee Fleming is 62. Actor Meg Tilly is 61. Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is 61. Singer-producer Dwayne Wiggins is 60. Actor Sakina Jaffey is 59. Actor Enrico Colantoni is 58. Actor Zach Galligan is 57. Actor Valente Rodriguez is 57. Former tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 54. Actor Simon Pegg is 51. Rock musician Kevin Baldes (Lit) is 49. Rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) is 49. Former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe is 49. Actor Danai Gurira is 43. Actor Matt Barr is 37. Actor Stephanie Leonidas is 37. Actor Jake Lacy is 35. Actor Tiffany Thornton is 35. Actor Brett Dier is 31. Actor Freddie Highmore is 29.
The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.
