Excitement marks Bahrain vote
2001 - Thousands of Bahrainis lined up at polling stations across the country to vote in the first referendum of its kind in the Gulf region — offering landmark reforms, including voting rights to all citizens, men and women above the age of 21. The two-day referendum on the National Action Charter, which will bring about constitutional changes and economic and social reforms, calls for a partially-elected parliament, a constitutional monarchy and an independent judiciary. Votes will be counted by a committee comprising the President of the High Civil Court, along with 10 civil and religious judges. The results will be announced 24 hours after counting is completed. Bahrainis appeared buzzing with excitement as they waited for their turn to vote.
February 14
1893 - US annexes Hawaii by treaty.
1924 - The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company is renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
1943 - Soviet forces recapture Rostov from Germans during Second World War.
1945 - Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador join the United Nations.
1958 - Iraq and Jordan form Arab Federation.
1960 - Ayoub Khan is elected President of Pakistan.
1979 - Four armed men kidnap US Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolf Dubs. Later he is killed during a shootout with the police.
1985 - Hostage CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is released in Beirut.
1989 - Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa calling for the death of British author Salman Rushdie.
1990 - Indian Airlines passenger jet crashes on landing at Bengaluru airport, killing 91 people.
1998 - A series of 17 bombs kills more than 50 people in the south Indian city of Coimbatore, triggering riots and arson.
2002 - The state of Bahrain is declared the Kingdom of Bahrain.
2005 - Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri is assassinated.
2008 - Burj Khalifa sells the highest office floor in the world for Dh44 million to a European investor.
2012 - A massive fire sweeps through an overcrowded prison in Comayagua, Honduras, killing more than 350 inmates.
2013 - South African double amputee Olympiad Oscar Pistorius is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp
2014 - Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resigns after being in power for 49 days.
2015 - Michele Ferrero, Italy’s richest man and the owner of a global chocolate and confectionery empire, dies at the age of 89.
