Today is Valentine’s Day, the feast day of St. Valentine, a priest and physician who was martyred about 270 ce in Rome. The tradition of exchanging greetings of love on Valentine’s Day is based on the legend that Valentine had signed a letter to his jailer’s daughter, with whom he had fallen in love, “from your Valentine.” [Why do we give Valentine’s Day cards?]

Amid scandals and corruption allegations, South African President Jacob Zuma resigned. He was later replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa. [Take our African leaders quiz.]

Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim registered YouTube, a website for sharing videos. More than a year later, it was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in stock.

The psychological thriller The Silence of the Lambs was released in American theaters. Today widely regarded as a classic, it won five Academy Awards, including best picture, actor (Anthony Hopkins), actress (Jodie Foster), and director (Jonathan Demme). [How much do you know about scary movies?]

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa and offered a bounty for the assassination of author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses Khomeini denounced as blasphemous.

Gregory Hines, a major figure in the revitalization of tap dancing in the late 20th century, was born in New York. [Test your knowledge of dance.]

The first general-purpose high-speed electronic digital computer, the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), was demonstrated to the public by its creators, J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and John W. Mauchly. [Discover how well you know computers and operating systems.]

With the establishment of women’s suffrage in the United States, Carrie Chapman Catt formed the League of Women Voters in Chicago. [Take our famous suffragettes quiz.]

Jack Benny, whose unusual comedic method and expert timing made him a legendary success in radio and television, was born in Chicago. [Test your knowledge of famous Americans.]

Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for the telephone. [Take our quiz about inventors and inventions.]

Captain James Cook, a British explorer, was killed at Kealakekua Bay by Hawaiians in a dispute over the theft of a boat. [Test your knowledge of world explorers.]

Thomas Malthus, the English economist and demographer best known for his theory that population growth will always tend to outrun the food supply and should be checked by stern limits on reproduction, is believed to have been born this day (or February 13). [Take our quiz about the basics of microeconomics.]

Richard Allen, founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Philadelphia. [Test your knowledge of Christianity.]