100% verified The same day, three eras.
14 February
Contemporary era
1876
Bell files the telephone patent
On 14 February 1876, Alexander Graham Bell filed in Washington his patent application for an improvement in telegraphy, hours before Elisha Gray.
Patent 174,465, granted on 7 March 1876, covered transmitting the voice by electrical undulations. It became one of the most disputed and valuable patents in history.
Sources and verification (2)
- Encyclopaedia When was the telephone patented? - Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica. 5/5
- Academic Who is credited with inventing the telephone? - Library of Congress Library of Congress, Everyday Mysteries. 5/5
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From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment
842
The Oaths of Strasbourg, oldest sustained record of a Romance language
On 14 February 842, Charles the Bald and Louis the German sealed an alliance against their brother Lothair; the text preserves the oldest sustained record of a Romance language.
To be understood by each other's soldiers, each king swore in the ally's tongue. The account comes from the historian Nithard. A year later, the Treaty of Verdun reshaped Europe.
Sources and verification (2)
- Encyclopaedia Oaths of Strasbourg - Wikipedia Wikipedia, Oaths of Strasbourg. 4/5
- Press Oaths of Strasbourg Sworn - History Today History Today. 4/5
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Antiquity
c. 269
Tradition places the memory of Saint Valentine on 14 February
According to Christian tradition, the martyrdom of Valentine of Rome is commemorated on 14 February; his feast, around 269, is the distant origin of Valentine's Day.
Ancient sources on Valentine are thin and partly legendary. The Church sets his commemoration on 14 February; the link with love appears only in the late Middle Ages.
Sources and verification (1)
- Encyclopaedia Saint Valentine - Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica, entree Saint Valentine. 4/5
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