Holidays Calendar for February 14, 2020
On February 14, the Lebanese observe Rafic Hariri Memorial Day. This day of remembrance is dedicated to the former Prime Minister of Lebanon who was assassinated on February 14, 2005.
The feast of Saint Tryphon, also known as Saint Tryphon Zarezan (Tryphon the Trimmer) is celebrated in Bulgaria and Montenegro on February 14. It is observed mainly by wine growers as Tryphon is the Eastern Orthodox patron saint of wine.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday observed in many countries around the world. Although initially it was a Christian feast day, nowadays it is mostly celebrated as a secular holiday dedicated to romantic love and affection. It is observed on February 14 each year.
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day is an annual campaign that promotes awareness of congenital heart defects. It is celebrated on February 14, Valentine's Day, as a heart is one of the most recognizable symbols of the holiday.
International Book Giving Day is an annual observance held on February 14. Its aim is to provide with books as many children as possible and to increase children’s enthusiasm for reading.
World Sound Healing Day is observed annually on February 14. It was created to raise awareness about the healing power of sound and bring together people from all over the world to send a sonic valentine to Mother Earth.
World Bonobo Day is celebrated on February 14 every year. It was created to honor humans’ closest extant relatives and raise awareness of the endangered status of bonobos and the importance of their conservation.
International Winter Bike to Work Day is an annual observance that was created to encourage experienced cyclists to brave the weather and commute to work on their bikes. It is observed annually on the second Friday of February.
Parents’ Worship Day (Matru Pitru Poojan Divas) is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14 in some Indian states. It was initiated by Asharam Bapu, an Indian spiritual leader who wanted to create an alternative to Valentine’s Day.
National Black Literacy Day is celebrated annually on February 14. It was created to raise awareness of the literacy gap in poor communities of color, support initiatives that strive to bridge this gap, and celebrate Black authors and Black-owned bookstores.
Welsh Language Music Day (Dydd Miwsig Cymru) is observed annually on the second Friday of February. It was created to celebrate all forms of Welsh music and raise awareness of the importance of preserving the Welsh language.
In 2014, a new public holiday was added to the holiday calendar of North Korea. Generalissimo Day is celebrated on February 14. It honors late leader Kim Jong-il who posthumously received the title Taewŏnsu (Generalissimo of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
Lui Ngai Ni is an annual spring festival celebrated by the Naga people in the Indian state of Manipur on February 14 and 15. In 1988, the government of Manipur even declared it a state public holiday.
Oregon was officially admitted into the Union on February 14, 1859. Although Oregon Statehood Day isn’t an official holiday in the state, it has been celebrated with various events, activities, and cultural programs for years.
Arizona Statehood Day is observed on February 14 to commemorate the day when Arizona joined the Union as the 48th state, becoming the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.
Singles Awareness Day, also known as Singles Appreciation Day, is a humorous holiday that serves as an alternative to Valentine's Day for people who are not involved in a romantic relationship. It is celebrated on February 14 or 15.
February 14 is National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day. If you love cream filling in chocolates, celebrate it bying buy a box of assorted chocolates.
National Impotence Day is observed annually on February 14, coinciding with Valentine’s Day, which is quite symbolic. It was created to combat the stigma surrounding erectile dysfunction and encourage men suffering from it to seek help.
National Ferris Wheel Day is celebrated annually on February 14. It commemorates the birthday of George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., the designer and constructor of one of the most beloved amusement rides.
V-Day is a global movement to end gender-based violence which was started by American author, playwright, performer, feminist and activist Eve Ensler. Ensler is best known for her play The Vagina Monologues.
National Donor Day, also known as National Organ Donor Day even though it doesn’t focus exclusively on organ donation, is celebrated annually on February 14. The observance was created in 1998 to raise awareness of the different types of donation and their life-saving benefits.
Festivals on February 14, 2020
- Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Canada
- Carnival of Tarragona in Tarragona, Spain
- Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg, Canada
- Mardi Gras! Galveston in Galveston, USA
- Adelaide Fringe in Adelaide, Australia
- Salon du Chocolat in Brussels in Brussels, Belgium
- Hong Kong Arts Festival in Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Antikmässan in Stockholm, Sweden
- Singha Park Chiangrai International Balloon Fiesta in Chiang Rai, Thailand
- Singapore Airshow in Singapore, Singapore
- Carnival of Cento in Cento, Italy
- Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taichung, Taiwan
- Florida Renaissance Festival in Deerfield Beach, USA
- Chicago Auto Show in Chicago, USA
- Carnival of Venice in Venice, Italy
This Day in History
- 2011 The Bahraini uprising began. It is a part of the revolutionary wave of protest in the Middle East and North Africa commonly referred to as the Arab Spring.
- 2010 Died: Dick Francis, British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels center on horse racing in England. Some of them were adapted for the screen.
- 2008 5 people were killed by Steven Kazmierczak during the shooting on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. There also were 21 injuries.
- 2007 Died: Ryan Larkin, Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with his 1968 short film Walking that was nominated for an Academy Award.
- 2005 The domain name www.youtube.com was activated. The first video entitled "Me at the Zoo" was uploaded at 8:27 pm on April 23, 2005.
- 2003 Dolly, the domestic sheep cloned from an adult somatic cell, was euthanized because she had severe arthritis and progressive lung disease.
- 1999 Died: Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter who is best known for his rock song "Party Doll" which was released in 1957.
- 1992 Born: Freddie Highmore, English actor. He first rose to prominence as a child actor; his most notable adult roles include Norman Bates in Bates Motel and Dr. Shaun Murphy in The Good Doctor.
- 1990 The NEAR Shoemaker robotic space probe went into an elliptical orbit around asteroid 433 Eros. It was the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
- 1989 Died: James Bond, American ornithologist, an expert on the birds of the Caribbean. Writer Ian Fleming appropriated his name for his fictional spy.
- 1981 A fatal fire took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland. 48 people died and 214 were injured. The fire was caused by an electrical fault.
- 1979 Adolph Dubs, the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped and killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
- 1978 Born: Danai Gurira, Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright. She is best known for her roles as Michonne on The Walking Dead and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- 1975 Died: Julian Huxley, English eugenicist, evolutionary biologist, and internationalist. He was the first Director of UNESCO and a founding member of the WWF.
- 1975 Died: P. G. Wodehouse, English humorist, novelist, playwright, and lyricist who is best known for his Jeeves and Wooster stories and novels.
- 1970 Born: Simon Pegg, English actor, comedian, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for having co-written and starred in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.
- 1967 Born: Mark Rutte, Dutch politician, the Prime Minister of Netherlands since 2010 (incumbent as of February 2024), former leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.
- 1949 The Knesset, Israeli parliament, convened for the first time. It replaced the Provisional State Council as Israel's official legislature.
- 1944 Born: Alan Parker, English film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He directed such films as Pink Floyd – The Wall, Evita, Come See the Paradise.
- 1943 Died: David Hilbert, German mathematician who is considered to be one of the most influential mathematicians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- 1942 Born: Andrew Robinson, American actor and writer. He is best known for his role as Elim Garak on the sci-fi television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- 1937 Born: Magic Sam (stage name of Samuel Gene Maghett), American Chicago blues musician who became well-known after his first record, "All Your Love".
- 1917 Born: Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician who was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (jointly with Jerome Karle).
- 1895 Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest premiered at the St James's Theatre in London. The successful opening night marked the climax of the playwright's career.
- 1884 Died: Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, American socialite, the first wife of President Theodore Roosevelt. She died two days after their child's birth.
- 1869 Born: Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist who was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the cloud chamber.
- 1859 Born: George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., American engineer who is mostly known for constructing the original Ferris Wheel in the 1890s.
- 1819 Born: Christopher Latham Sholes, American inventor best known for creating the first practical typewriter and the QWERTY keyboard.
- 1779 Died: James Cook, British navigator, cartographer, explorer, and captain in the Royal Navy. He was killed in a fight with Native Hawaiians during his exploratory voyage.
- 1763 Born: Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general who was Napoleon Bonaparte's associate, but later become his rival and was banished to the United States.
- 1744 Died: John Hadley, English mathematician best known for the invention of the octant, a precursor to the sextant, in the 1730s.
- 1349 In Strasbourg, several hundred Jews were publicly burned to death, and the rest were expelled from the city. It was one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history.