February 28

February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 306 days remaining until the end of the year (307 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

202 BC – Emperor Gaozu of Han is crowned in China, marking the beginning of the Han Dynasty.
870 – The fourth council of Constantinople closes.
1246 – The Siege of Jaén ends in the context of the Spanish Reconquista, resulting in the Castilian takeover of the city from the Taifa of Jaén.
1525 – Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc is executed by Hernan Cortes' forces.
1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
1700 – In Sweden, this date is followed by March 1 instead of February 29, creating the Swedish calendar.
1710 – Battle of Helsingborg: 14,000 Danish invaders under Jorgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally–sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock.
1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.
1811 – Cry of Asencio: Beginning of Uruguay's War of Independence.
1813 – In a treaty with Russia, Prussia changes sides from that of Napoleon Bonaparte to that of the coalition against him.
1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, offering commercial transportation of both people and freight, the first US railroad to do so.
1835 – The Kalevala, Finland's national epic, compiled by Elias Lönnrot, is published for the first time.
1838 – Robert Nelson proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (present–day Quebec).
1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes on a Potomac River cruise, including two united States cabinet members.
1847 – The Battle of the Sacramento River during the Mexican-American War is a decisive victory for the United States leading to the capture of Chihuahua.
1849 – Regular steamboat service between the east and west coasts of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, over four months after it left New York City Harbor.
1854 – In Wisconsin, the Republican Party is founded. Abraham Lincoln is the party's first elected president in 1860.
1870 – The Bulgarian exarchate is created by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.
1883 – The first vaudeville theatre opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State.
1890 – In the Torres Strait, between Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea, the ship HMS Quetta sinks after a rock collision, killing 134 people.
1893 – American battleship USS Indiana is launched.
1897 – Madagascar's last Queen, Ranavalona III, is deposed by French military forces.
1900 – Second Boer War: The 118–day Siege of Ladysmith ends.

1901 – 2000

1914 – Greeks living in Southern Albania declare the "Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus".
1922 – Egypt declares independence.
1928 – C.V. Raman discovers the Raman effect, on the spread of light.
1933 – Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel go into exile in Prague.
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1939 – The erroneous word "dord" is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.
1940 – Basketball is shown on television for the first time.
1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait, killing 693 people. The same also happens to the HMAS Perth, on which 375 are killed.
1946 – French sports paper L'Equipe publishes its first edition.
1947 – 228 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of 30,000 lives.
1948 – A British police officer opens fire on a march of ex–servicemen in Accra, then–Gold Coast, present–day Ghana, killing 3, and sparking major riots.
1952 – End of the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.
1953 – James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.
1958 – A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky, hits a wrecker truck and plunges into the Lerisa Fork River, killing 26 children and the driver.
1960 – The 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, end.
1972 – The United States and the People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communique in a step towards improving their diplomatic relations.
1974 – The United Kingdom General Election ends without either the Labour or Conservative Parties winning a parliamentary majority. Another election is held later in the year.
1975 – A tube train crashes at Moorgate Station in London, killing 43 people.
1980 – Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs. It is one of the most watched shows in TV history with 125 million people watching.
1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station in Newry, Northern Ireland, killing 9 officers.
1986 – Sweden's Prime Minister Olof Palme is shot dead.
1988 – The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary end, with host nation Canada winning no gold medals.
1993 – The standoff lasting until April 19 at the compound of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas begins. This occurs when ATF and FBI agents raid it to arrest its leader David Koresh.
1997 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Armenia and Azerbaijan kills around 1,100 people.
1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran kills around 3,000 people.
1997 – GRB 970228, a very luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes Earth for 80 seconds.
1998 – Kosovo War: Serbian police begin an offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army.

From 2001

2001 – Ten people are killed in a train crash in Selby, Yorkshire.
2001 – The Nisqually earthquake at magnitude 6.8 strikes Washington State.
2002 – Religious violence in Gujarat: Two separate massacres kill a total of 166 people.
2002 – The twelve Eurozone countries officially give up their old currencies.
2003 – Vaclav Klaus is elected President of the Czech Republic.
2004 – 1 million people form a human chain in Taiwan, in memory of the 228 Incident.
2005 – In Al Hillah, Iraq, a bomb explodes outside a police training academy, killing 127 people.
2005 – In Lebanon the pro–Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigns.
2008 – Dimitris Christofias becomes President of Cyprus.
2010 – The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver end with host nation Canada winning the most gold medals.
2013 – Nicos Anastasiades becomes President of Cyprus.
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI officially resigns as Pope, as the first Pope to do so since 1415.
2026 – Israeli and United States launch a joint attack on Iran.

Births

Up to 1900

1155 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)
1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)
1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French writer (d. 1592)
1552 – Jost Buergi, Swiss clock maker (d. 1632)
1612 – John Pearson, English theologian (d. 1686)
1619 – Giuseppe Felice Tosi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1693)
1670 – Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (d. 1737)
1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer (d. 1760)
1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander (d. 1759)
1743 – René-Just Hauy, French mineralogist (d. 1822)
1792 – Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist, meteorologist and geographer (d. 1876)
1797 – Prince Frederick of the Netherlands (d. 1881)
1804 – Henry S. Foote, Governor of Mississippi (d. 1880)
1812 – Berthold Auerbach, German poet and writer (d. 1882)
1813 – Pomare IV, Queen of Tahiti (d. 1877)
1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator, humourist and political cartoonist (d. 1914)
1824 – Charles Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897)
1825 – Jean-Baptiste Arban, French composer (d. 1889)
1833 – Carl Hilty, Swiss philosopher, writer and lawyer (d. 1909)
1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)
1838 – Maurice Levy, French engineer (d. 1910)
1840 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892)
1851 – Samuel W. McCall, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923)
1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and theatre director (d. 1941)
1863 – Gheorghe Marinescu, Romanian neurologist and neuropathologist (d. 1938)
1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov, Russian poet (d. 1949)
1877 – Sergei Bortkiewicz, Russian composer (d. 1952)
1878 – Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1952)
1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929)
1881 – Fernand Sanz, French cyclist (d. 1925)
1882 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer (d. 1959)
1883 – Sean Mac Diarmada, Irish political activist and revolutionary (d. 1916)
1884 – Ants Piip, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian–American sculptor, painter, printmaker and writer (d. 1966)
1889 – Pavel Dybenko, Russian revolutionary (d. 1938)
1893 – Vsevolod Pudovkin, Soviet–Russian movie maker (d. 1953)
1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1964)
1895 – Marcel Pagnol, French writer, playwright and director (d. 1974)
1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician (d. 1965)
1897 – Ruth Pitter, English poet (d. 1992)

1901 – 1950

1901 – Linus Pauling, American scientist (d. 1994)
1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American movie director (d. 1986)
1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)
1907 – Milton Caniff, American comic creator (d. 1988)
1909 – Stephen Spender, English poet (d. 1995)
1912 – Clara Petacci, mistress to Benito Mussolini (d. 1945)
1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian–born scientist (d. 1987)
1916 – Svend Asmussen, Danish jazz violinist (d. 2017)
1919 – Brian Urquhart, British World War II veteran and writer
1920 – Jadwiga Pilsudska, Polish pilot (d. 2014)
1921 – Saul Zaentz, American movie producer (d. 2014)
1921 – Willi Sitte, German artist (d. 2013)
1922 – Yuri Lotman, Soviet philologist (d. 1993)
1923 – Charles Durning, American actor (d. 2012)
1924 – Robert A. Roe, American diplomat (d. 2014)
1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Soviet–born American defector, writer and daughter of Joseph Stalin (d. 2011)
1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian–American architect
1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist
1930 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor
1930 – Marty Grosz, American musician
1931 – Dean Smith, American basketball coach (d. 2015)
1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese–born physicist
1940 – Aldo Andretti, Italian–born racing driver
1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian–born racing driver
1940 – Barry Fantoni, English writer, comic strip cartoonist and jazz musician
1941 – Tristan Garel-Jones, Baron Garel-Jones, British politician
1941 – Suzanne Mubarak, former First Lady of Egypt
1942 – Brian Jones, English musician (Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)
1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer
1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor
1943 – Charles Bernstein, American composer
1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer
1944 – Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer (d. 2013)
1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress
1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and writer (d. 2014)
1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)
1946 – Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005)
1947 – Stephanie Beacham, British actress
1947 – Togiola Tulafono, American Samoan politician
1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist
1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
1948 – Alfred Sant, 11th Prime Minister of Malta
1950 – Frankie Kao, Taiwanese singer (d. 2014)

1951 – 1975

1951 – Roseanna Vitro, American jazz singer
1951 – Gustav Thöni, Italian skier
1952 – Frank Warren, English boxing manager and promoter
1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist
1955 – Jimmy Calderwood, Scottish footballer and manager
1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian (d. 2022)
1956 – Tommy Remengesau, President of Palau (2001–2009 and 2013–2021)
1956 – Terry Leahy, British businessman
1957 – Jan Ceulemans, Belgian footballer
1957 – Ainsley Harriott, British chef
1957 – John Turturro, American actor
1958 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian activist (d. 2009)
1958 – Christina Lathan, German sprinter
1958 – Jeanne Mas, French singer-songwriter and actress
1958 – Jack Abramoff, American political lobbyist
1960 – Dorothy Stratten, American model and actress (d. 1980)
1961 – Mark Latham, Australian politician
1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish boxer
1963 – Claudio Chiapucci, Italian cyclist
1965 – Colum McCann, Irish writer
1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
1969 – Murray Gold, British movie score composer
1969 – Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, Austrian politician
1969 – U. Srinivas, Indian mandolin player and composer (d. 2014)
1970 – Daniel Handler, American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket
1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor
1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
1974 – Lee Carsley, Irish footballer

From 1976

1976 – Ali Larter, American actress
1977 – Jason Aldean, American country music singer
1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentine tennis player
1979 – Ivo Karlovic, Croatian tennis player
1979 – Andriy Nesmachniy, Ukrainian footballer
1979 – Michael Bisping, English mixed martial artist and actor
1979 – Primoz Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper
1980 – Sigurd Pettersen, Norwegian ski jumper
1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
1981 – Florent Serra, French tennis player
1982 – Yelena Slesarenko, Russian high jumper
1984 – Fredrik Stoor, Swedish footballer
1984 – Karolina Kurkova, Czech supermodel
1984 – Ben Fagan, American musician
1985 – Jelena Jankovic, Serbian tennis player
1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
1989 – Angelababy, Chinese model, actress and singer
1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
1989 – Danielle Haim, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1989 – Zhang Liyin, Chinese singer
1990 – Naomi Broady, English tennis player
1990 – Georgina Leonidas, English actress
1991 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress
1993 – Emmelie de Forest, Danish singer
1993 – Marquis Teague, American basketball player
1994 – Jake Bugg, British singer-songwriter
2000 – Moise Kean, Italian footballer
2007 – Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco

Deaths

Up to 1900

468 – Pope Hilarius
1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1230)
1326 – Duke Leopold I of Austria (b. 1290)
1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)
1510 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer
1525 – Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler
1572 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (b. 1505)
1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)
1648 – King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. 1577)
1836 – Friedrich August Grotefend, German philologist (b. 1798)
1844 – Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia (b. 1802)
1844 – Abel P. Upshur, American politician (b. 1790)
1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer and poet (b. 1790)
1891 – George Hearst, American politician and businessman (b. 1820)

1901 – 2000

1916 – Henry James, American writer (b. 1843)
1925 – Friedrich Ebert, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871)
1926 – Alphonse Borrelly, French astronomer (b. 1842)
1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (b. 1851)
1935 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian pianist, composer and conductor (b. 1847)
1936 – Kamala Nehru, wife of Jawaharlal Nehru (b. 1899)
1936 – Charles Nicolle, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1928 (b. 1866)
1941 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)
1942 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889)
1956 – Emile Buisson, French gangster (b. 1902)
1959 – Maxwell Anderson, American playwright (b. 1888)
1963 – Rajendra Prasad, first President of India (b. 1884)
1965 – Adolf Scharf, President of Austria (b. 1890)
1967 – Henry Luce, American publisher (b. 1898)
1974 – Bobby Bloom, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
1985 – David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947)
1986 – Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (murdered) (b. 1927)
1986 – Laura Z. Hobson, American writer (b. 1900)
1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress and dancer (b. 1909)
1993 – Ishiro Honda, Japanese director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1911)
1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Soviet diplomat (b. 1930)
1998 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (b. 1952)

From 2001

2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)
2003 – Fidel Sanchez Hernandez, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)
2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese–English runner and journalist (b. 1928)
2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)
2004 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish writer (b. 1921)
2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist (b. 1921)
2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., American historian and political commentator (b. 1917)
2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster (b. 1918)
2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)
2011 – Jane Russell, American actress (b. 1921)
2013 – Bruce Reynolds, British criminal (b. 1931)
2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist (b. 1926)
2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch writer (b. 1935)
2014 – Michio Mado, Japanese poet (b. 1909)
2015 – Mykhailo Chechetov, Ukrainian–Russian politician (b. 1953)
2015 – Anthony Mason, American basketball player (b. 1966)
2015 – Yasar Kemal, Turkish writer (b. 1923)
2016 – Frank Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1938)
2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)
2017 – Leone di Lernia, Italian radio host, singer, actor and composer (b. 1938)
2017 – Paul Kangas, American broadcaster (b. 1937)
2017 – Peter Mathews, Irish politician (b. 1951)
2017 – Vladimir Petrov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1947)
2017 – Elisabeth Waldheim, Austrian political figure (b. 1922)
2018 – Barry Crimmins, American comedian and social activist (b. 1953)
2018 – Rogelio Guerra, Mexican actor (b. 1936)
2018 – Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru (b. 1935)
2019 – André Previn, German–American pianist, comductor and composer (b. 1929)

Observances

Kalevala Day (Finland)
National Science Day (India)
Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)
Teacher's Day (many Arab countries)
Regional Holiday (Andalusia)