Highlight: In 1963, Federico Fellini’s art-house classic “8½," a movie about a movie director played by Marcello Mastroianni, was first released in Italy.
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 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.
In 1895, Oscar Wilde’s final play, “The Importance of Being Earnest," opened at the St. James’s Theatre in London.
In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. (It was divided into separate departments of Commerce and Labor in 1913.)
In 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union as President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation.
In 1913, labor leader Jimmy Hoffa was born in Brazil, Ind.; college football coach Woody Hayes was born in Clifton, Ohio; and sports broadcaster Mel Allen was born in Birmingham, Ala.
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 1949, Israel’s Knesset convened for the first time.
In 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police.
In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses," a novel condemned as blasphemous.
Ten years ago: In a dramatic showdown, major powers rebuffed the U.S. in the U.N. Security Council and insisted on more time for weapons inspections in Iraq. (Earlier, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix had told the Council his teams had not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.) Dolly the cloned sheep was put down after premature aging and disease marred her short, six-year existence.
Five years ago: A former student dressed in black walked onto the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire on a packed science class; Steven Kaz-mierczak killed five students before committing suicide.
One year ago: A fire broke out at the Comayagua farm prison in Honduras, killing 361 inmates. Malachy the Pekingese wobbled off with best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club in New York.
It’s Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2013. There are 320 days left in the year.
Actress-singer Florence Henderson is 79. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is 71. Movie director Alan Parker is 69. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 69. Magician Teller (Penn and Teller) is 65. Opera singer Renee Fleming is 54. Actress Meg Tilly is 53. Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is 53. Actor Simon Pegg is 43. Rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) is 41. Actor Matt Barr is 29.
— From wire reports
