On this day: February 14
POSTED: 08:55 PM PST Feb 13, 2013
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PST Feb 13, 2013
Saint Valentine dies a martyr, President Polk has his picture snapped, Al Capone sends his foes a violent Valentine's Day message, and Jackie Kennedy invites TV viewers inside the White House, all on this day.
Public domain
1859: George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., an American engineer and inventor most famous for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, is born in Galesburg, Ill. Despite his invention, Ferris would die on the edge of bankruptcy in 1896, unable to claim enough of his share of the profits from the original Ferris Wheel to cover his expenses.
