MOMENTS IN TIME

Jan 30, 20130

The History Channel

• On Feb. 14, 278 A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, is executed. Claudius the Cruel had banned all marriages and engagements. Valentine defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

• On Feb. 17, 1904, Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly” premieres at the La Scala theater in Milan, Italy. Set in Nagasaki, Japan, “Madame Butterfly” told the story of an American sailor, B.F. Pinkerton, who marries and then abandons a young Japanese geisha, Cio-Cio-San, or Madame Butterfly.

• On Feb. 11, 1916, Emma Goldman, a crusader for women’s rights and social justice, is arrested in New York City for lecturing and distributing materials about birth control. She was accused of violating the Comstock Act of 1873, which made it a federal offense to disseminate contraceptive devices and information through the mail or across state lines.

• On Feb. 13, 1920, The League of Nations, the international organization formed at the peace conference at Versailles in the wake of World War I, recognizes the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. The League also established its headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva.

• On Feb. 16, 1959, Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after leading a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile. The United States initially recognized the new Cuban dictator but withdrew its support after Castro nationalized U.S. assets on the island.

• On Feb. 15, 1965, in accordance with a formal proclamation by Queen Elizabeth II of England, a new Canadian national flag is raised above Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Canada’s national flag was to be red and white with a stylized 11-point red maple leaf in its center.

• On Feb. 12, 1973, the release of American POWs from the Vietnam War begins in Hanoi as part of the Paris peace settlement. Operation Homecoming was completed on March 29, 1973, when the last of 591 U.S. prisoners were released and returned to the United States.