Today in HistoryToday is Wednesday, February 14, the 45th day of 2007. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day.

ON THIS DATE<$>

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

In 1895, Oscar Wilde’s final play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” opened at the St. James’ Theatre in London.

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

In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini called on Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses,” a novel condemned as blasphemous.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“A lady of 47 who has been married 27 years and has six children knows what love really is and once described it for me like this: ‘Love is what you’ve been through with somebody’.” — James Thurber, American humorist (1894-1961).