1936: More than 800 delegates representing over 500 organizations elected Asa Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as the newly formed Nat'l Negro Congress.

1943: Funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s, Maceo Parker was born on this day in Kingston, N.C.

1946: Tony Award winning, singer, dancer and choreographer Gregory Hines and the greatest tap dancer of his generation was born on this day in New York City. He passed away in 2003 at age 57

1957: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Montgomery, Ala., reads the telegram sent to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower by the Southern Negro Leaders Conference in New Orleans, La.on this day. The telegram says that a mass pilgrimage will be made to the nation's capitol if the president does not make a stand calling for enforcement of the Supreme Court's ruling outlawing segregation

1966: NBA great, Wilt Chamberlain, set an NBA record on this day by scoring 20,884 points

1967: One of the greatest songs ever, 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin was recorded on this day

1976: 'Inseparable' by Natalie Cole was the number one R&B song on this day

1991: The SuperSoaker water gun invented and created by Lonnie Johnson received a patent on this day.

1994: Lenny Kravitz was awarded the Best International Male Artist trophy at the Thirteenth Brit Awards on this day in London.

1996: Prince and Mayte Garcia got married in a Minneapolis church on this day. Mayte is currently starring in the reality show 'The Hollywood Exes' with Sheree Zampino, Nicole Murphy, Andrea Kelly, Jessica Canseco and Daphne Wayans

2005: The romantic comedy 'Hitch' starring Will Smith and Eva Mendez opened in theaters and took in over $45 million during Valentine's Day Weekend.

2005: Marvel Comics announced that Marvel's first Black Superhero, the Black Panther would be making a comeback with the hopes of sparking the imaginations of a new generation of black youth

2006: English singer, songwriter arranger and record producer Lynden David Hall passed away on this day. In 2003, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and died from complications resulting from the stem cell transplant he received in January 2005. He was 31 years old

2011: Negro league baseball pitcher, outfielder, and first baseman Cecil Kaiser passed away on this day after a fall. He was 94 years old. He was nicknamed the "Minute Man" as it took him about one minute to strike out batters and as the "Aspirin Tablet Man" for throwing pitches that resembled aspirin tablets.

also in history...

748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.

1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.

1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).

1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th and the last contiguous U.S. state.

1918 – The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).

1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.

1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

1929 – Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.

1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.

2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.

2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.

IF today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this day with…

1368 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1437)

1882 – John Barrymore, American actor (d. 1942)

1894 – Jack Benny, American actor and producer (d. 1974)

1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (d. 1973)

1913 – Jimmy Hoffa, American trade union leader (d. 1975)

1916 – Edward Platt, American actor (d. 1974)

1921 – Hugh Downs, American journalist, game show host, and producer

1929 – Vic Morrow, American actor and director (d. 1982)

1934 – Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (d. 2016)

1937 – Magic Sam, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969)

1939 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)

1941 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (d. 1997)

1943 – Eric Andersen, American singer-songwriter

1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist

1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author

1946 – Gregory Hines, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)

1947 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)

1951 – Terry Gross, American radio host and producer

1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress

1960 – Meg Tilly, American actress and author

Almanac - Wednesday 2/14/18

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