Monday 14th of February 1572

Composer Hans Christoph Haiden is born in Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany.

Sunday 14th of February 1779

Explorer, navigator, cartographer and captain James Cook is struck on the head and stabbed to death by native villagers at the age of 51 in Kealakekua Bay, Kona coast, Hawaii, United States.

Cook's body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons.

Monday 14th of February 1859

Oregon is admitted as 33rd state of the U.S. in Salem, Oregon, United States.

Thursday 14th of February 1901

Bessie Elizabeth Taylor is poisoned with tartar-emetic by serial poisoner George Chapman aka The Borough Poisoner in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Sunday 14th of February 1909

Over 300 die in Teatro Flores fire in Teatro Flores, Calle de Independencia, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico.

Wednesday 14th of February 1912

Arizona is admitted as 48th state of the U.S. in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

Friday 14th of February 1913

Labour union leader Jimmy James Riddle Hoffa is born in Brazil, Indiana, United States.

Thursday 14th of February 1929

Gangsters Adam Meyer, Frank Foster, John May, Frank Clark, Al Weinshank and Peter and Frank Gusenberg are shot dead in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in 2122 North Clark Street, Chicago, Lincoln Park, Illinois, United States.

The massacre was a result of a conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran.

Saturday 14th of February 1942

Greta Hayward is attacked by serial killer Gordon Cummins aka The Blackout Ripper in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Hayward survived. Cummins had left behind his gas mask after the interrupted attack. The gas mask had the service number 525987 on the side which identified the possessor as Cummins.

Wednesday 14th of February 1945

Charles Watford is accused of witchcraft and ritually murdered by driving a pitfork into his chest and a sickle through his throat by persons unknown at the age of 74 in Meon Hill, Mickleton, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.

Friday 14th of February 1947

Musician Tim Timothy Charles Buckley is born in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.

Tuesday 14th of February 1950

Physicist and radio engineer Karl Guthe Jansky known for discovering radio waves emanating from the Milky Way dies of a heart condition at the age of 45 in Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, New Jersey, United States.

Tuesday 14th of February 1950

25-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey marries his first wife, Joan Davies in Saint Helier, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 14th of February 1951

Victim of Ted Bundy aka The Only Living Witness Janice Anne Ott is born in Spokane, Washington, United States.

Thursday 14th of February 1957

Murderer Winfred D. Moore is executed by hanging in United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, United States.

Thursday 14th of February 1957

Murderer Thomas Edwards is executed by hanging in United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, United States.

Sunday 14th of February 1960

35-year-old Satan worshipper and serial rapist Edward John Louis Paisnel aka The Beast of Jersey assaults an unidentified 12-year-old schoolboy in Grands Vaux, Jersey, United Kingdom.

Sunday 14th of February 1960

25-year-old Vampire and serial killer Florencio Fernández aka El Vampiro de la Ventana is arrested in Monteros, Tucumán, Argentina.

Fernández was declared insane and committed to a mental institution where he died of natural causes a few years later.

Wednesday 14th of February 1962

Double murderer Jay Kelly Pinkerton is born in Amarillo, Texas, United States.

Tuesday 14th of February 1967

Over 150 graves are destroyed by an unidentified maniac who roams Belgian, German and Dutch cemetaries in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.

Tuesday 14th of February 1967

21-year-old Serial killer Peter William Sutcliffe aka The Yorkshire Ripper meets his future wife Sonia Szurma in Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Friday 14th of February 1969

Mobster and crime boss Vito Genovese aka Don Vito dies of a heart attack at the age of 72 in Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield, Missouri, United States.

Friday 14th of February 1969

44-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Film Aktion Text' in Buchhandlung Herrmann, Stubenring 20, Wien, Wien, Austria.

Thursday 14th of February 1974

84-year-old Isabella Griffiths is stabbed to death by serial killer Patrick Mackay aka Franklin Bollvolt the First in 19 Cheyne Walk, London, Chelsea, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Thursday 14th of February 1974

Writer Pelham Grenville Wodehouse aka Plum dies of a heart attack at the age of 93 in Southampton Hospital, 240 Meeting House Lane, Southampton, New York, United States.

Monday 14th of February 1977

Self-styled Nazi and mass murderer Fred Frederick Cowan commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 34 in Neptune Worldwide Moving Company, New Rochelle, New York, United States.

Cowan was surrounded by 300 police officers after shooting and killing five co-workers.

Wednesday 14th of February 1979

25-year-old Melvin Reynolds confesses to the abduction and murder of 4-year-old Eric Christgen and is sentenced to life-imprisonment, although the murder was committed by 50-year-old Serial killer Charles Ray Hatcher aka Evil Incarnate in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States.

Friday 14th of February 1986

Sadist murderer Marc Fasquel is shot dead by the police at a road block at the age of 39 in Monbéqui, Tarn-et-Garonne, France.

Fasquel's 30-year-old girlfriend and accomplice Jocelyne Bourdin is arrested.

Tuesday 14th of February 1989

Spiritual leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini proclaims a fatwā requiring the execution of 43-year-old Writer Salman Ahmed Rushdie known for The Satanic Verses on Radio Tehran in Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Wednesday 14th of February 1990

92 die in Indian Airlines Airbus A320-231 Flight 605 crash in Bangalore-Hindustan Airport, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

There were 54 survivors.

Monday 14th of February 1994

Serial killer Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo aka The Rostov Ripper is executed by a single gunshot behind the right ear at the age of 58 in Novocherkassk Prison, Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russia.

Friday 14th of February 1997

35-year-old Cannibal Ilshat Kuzikov is arrested and confesses to killing his vodka drinking buddies Sasha Pichonkin, 37-year-old Misha Bochkov and 43-year-old Edik Vassilevski and eating their internal organs in Block 22, Ordzhonikidze Street, St. Petersburg, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

"You know, I always wanted to be a surgeon, but it’s better to be a cannibal. If you’re a surgeon you have to put the body back together and you stop having any control over it. But a cannibal kills and then he can do what he wants with the body. After he kills, he owns it forever."

Friday 14th of February 2003

The first succesfully cloned sheep Dolly dies of a progressive lung disease and severe arthritis at the age of 7 in Roslin Institute, Midlothian, Easter Bush, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Dolly's stuffed remains are at the National Museum of Scotland.

Saturday 14th of February 2004

Serial killer Yang Xinhai aka The Monster Killer is executed by a shot in the back of the head at the age of 36 in Luohe, Henan, China.

Yang was found guilty of 67 murders and 23 rapes. "When I killed people I had a desire. This inspired me to kill more. I don't care whether they deserve to live or not. It is none of my concern... I have no desire to be part of society. Society is not my concern."

Tuesday 14th of February 2012

360 die in Comayagua prison fire in Comayagua Prison, Honduras.

An unidentified man reportedly shouted "We will all die here!" before starting the fire. His motives remain unknown.

Saturday 14th of February 2015

Chocolate maker Michele Ferrero known for inventing Nutella chocolate paste dies of unknown causes at the age of 90 in Monaco-Ville, Monaco.

Sunday 14th of February 2016

57-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV performs 'Transmission' in Galerie Marion de Cannière, Leopoldplaats 12, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

'For four hours I lay with my head in a metal smokestack. At the other end of the smokestack stood an electrical motor that swung around a wooden stick inside the stack.'