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Today is Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2002. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On Feb. 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the Union. 

On this date: 

In 1778, the American ship Ranger carried the recently adopted Stars and Stripes to a foreign port for the first time as it arrived in France. 

In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state. 

In 1899, Congress approved, and President McKinley signed, legislation authorizing states to use voting machines for federal elections. 

In 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor was established. 

In 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its first president was Maude Wood Park. 

In 1929, the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down. 

In 1945, Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador joined the United Nations. 

In 1962, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducted a televised tour of the White House. 

In 1979, Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped in Kabul by Muslim extremists and killed in a shootout between his abductors and police. 

In 1990, 94 people were killed when an Indian Airlines passenger jet crashed while landing at a southern Indian airport. 

Ten years ago: American speed skater Bonnie Blair won her second gold medal of the Albertville Olympics, in the 1,000 meters event. The former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan rejected a proposal for a unified army, sharply rebuffing Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. 

Five years ago: American Airlines and its pilots union continued contract talks as the clock ticked down to a midnight strike deadline. (The pilots did strike, but President Clinton immediately intervened, ordering a 60-day “cooling off” period.) 

One year ago: A Palestinian crashed a bus into Israeli soldiers and civilians standing at a bus stop in Azur, Israel, killing eight. (The driver, Khalil Abu Olbeh, was later sentenced to eight life terms.) The Kansas Board of Education approved new science standards restoring evolution to the state’s curriculum. 

Today’s Birthdays: TV personality Hugh Downs is 81. Actress-singer Florence Henderson is 68. Country singer Razzy Bailey is 63. Jazz musician Maceo Parker is 59. Movie director Alan Parker is 58. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 58. Actor-dancer Gregory Hines is 56. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., is 55. TV personality Pat O’Brien is 54. Magician Teller (Penn and Teller) is 54. Cajun singer-musician Michael Doucet (Beausoleil) is 51. Actor Ken Wahl is 45. Actress Meg Tilly is 42. Singer-producer Dwayne Wiggins is 41. Actor Enrico Colantoni is 39. Actor Zach Galligan is 39. Rock musician Ricky Wolking (The Nixons) is 36. Tennis player Manuela Maleeva is 35.