Historical Events 1076 - Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (for the 1st time) 1872 - 1st US state bird refuge authorized (Lake Merritt‚ California) 1929 - St Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago‚ 7 gangsters killed‚ allegedly on Al Capone's orders 1968 - WHKY TV channel 14 in Hickory‚ NC (IND) begins broadcasting 1980 - US launches Solar Maximum Mission Observatory to study solar flares 2002 - Fishing vessel Tullaghmurray Lass sinks off the coast of Kilkeel‚ County Down‚ Northern Ireland killing three members of the same family on board More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1895 - Max Horkheimer‚ German philosopher and sociologist (Dialectic of Enlightenment‚ Eclipse of Reason)‚ born in Zuffenhausen‚ Stuttgart‚ Germany (d. 1973) 1926 - (Alexander) "Bobby" Kok‚ Boer-British classical and session cellist (BBC Symphony; George Harrison - "When We Was Fab")‚ born in Brakpan‚ Union of South Africa‚ (d. 2015) 1943 - Griselda Blanco 'Cocaine Godmother'‚ Colombian drug lord‚ born in Cartagena‚ Colombia (d. 2012) 1958 - Perry Stephens‚ German actor (Loving‚ All My Children)‚ born in Frankfurt‚ Germany 1972 - Erika Rachael Schwarz‚ Miss America (Louisiana-2nd-1997)‚ born in Folsom‚ Louisiana 1983 - Rhydian Roberts‚ Welsh Singer (X Factor runner up)‚ born in Sennybridge‚ United Kingdom More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1760 - François Colin de Blamont‚ French composer‚ dies at 69 1870 - St. John Richardson Liddell‚ American Civil War Confederate General‚ dies at 54 1884 - Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt‚ 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt‚ dies of Bright's disease at 22 1955 - Charles Cuvillier‚ French composer of operetta (The Naughty Princess)‚ dies at 77 1994 - Andrei Chikatilo‚ Soviet-Russian serial killer who murdered at least 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990‚ executed by a single gunshot at 57 2010 - Dick Francis‚ British jockey and detective writer (Whip Hand‚ High Stakes)‚ dies at 89 More Famous Deaths »