View Historical Events by Day: What Happened on February 14 in History?

Pope John XII crowns Otto I as Holy Roman Emperor.

Pope Benedict VII dies after a reign marked by the struggle between the papacy and the Roman nobility.

999 CE, February 14 - Gerbert of Aurillac becomes Pope Sylvester II.

First known mention of the city of Gundelfingen, Germany.

Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy.

Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.

First known reference to the village of Potten End, England.

Death of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, and troubadour poet.

Roger II is crowned King of Sicily.

Battle of Stirling Bridge: William Wallace defeats the English forces under John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey.

Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is executed for adultery and treason.

Oregon is admitted to the United States Union as the 33rd State.

The Arizona territory becomes the 48th state in the union. The first Governor of the new state was George W.P. Hunt. Arizonans wanted statehood long before 1912, but rejected a proposal from the U.S. Senate that Arizona and New Mexico territories combine and be admitted as one state.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurs in Chicago, involving a gang-related shooting that left seven dead.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini calls for the execution of British author Salman Rushdie over his novel "The Satanic Verses."

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri is assassinated in Beirut, sparking the Cedar Revolution.