February 28

Updated on Dec 16, 2023

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Day of the week 2017 Tuesday Holidays & Observances Día de Andalucía		Western zodiac Pisces
Events 88th Academy Awards, UFC 184, Cry of Asencio Famous birthdays Hazel Keech, Aroldis Chapman, Angelababy, Olivia Palermo, Paul Krugman

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). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56).

Birthday february 28th horoscope personality zodiac sign pisces astrology

Events

202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.

628 – Khosrow II is executed by Mihr Hormozd under the orders of Kavadh II.

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 Jaen.

1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.

1700 – Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.

1710 – Battle of Helsingborg: 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock. This is the last time Swedish and Danish troops meet on Swedish soil.

1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.

1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1838 – Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Quebec).

1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing eight people, 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 from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, four months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.

1867 – Seventy years of Holy See–United States relations are ended by a Congressional ban on federal funding of diplomatic envoys to the Vatican and are not restored until January 10, 1984.

1870 – The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.

1874 – One of the longest cases ever heard in an English court ends when the defendant is convicted of perjury for attempting to assume the identity of the heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.

1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)

1893 – The USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, is launched.

1897 – Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force.

1900 – The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted.

1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.

1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.

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 televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).

1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.

1947 – February 28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of an estimated 30,000 civilians.

1948 – Christiansborg Cross-Roads shooting in the Gold Coast, when a British police officer opens fire on a march of ex-servicemen, killing three of them and sparking major riots and looting in Accra.

1953 – James Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April's Nature (pub. April 2).

1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public.

1958 – A school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hits a wrecker truck and plunges down an embankment into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork river. The driver and 26 children die in what remains one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.

1959 – Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.

1972 – Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.

1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.

1980 – Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.

1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 106 million viewers. It still holds the record for the highest viewership of a season finale.

1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.

1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.

1991 – The first Gulf War ends.

1993 – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four ATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

1995 – Former Australian Liberal party leader John Hewson resigns from the Australian parliament almost two years after losing the Australian federal election, 1993.

1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 3,000 deaths.

1997 – GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way.

1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.

1998 – Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.

2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, the 97 people killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in Gulbarg Society massacre.

2004 – Over one million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand rally form a 500-kilometre (310 mi) long human chain to commemorate the February 28 Incident in 1947

2005 – A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.

2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415.

Births

1119 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. 1150)

1155 – Henry the Young King, English son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)

1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)

1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (d. 1592)

1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (d. 1632)

1612 – John Pearson, English bishop, theologian, and scholar (d. 1686)

1627 – Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1703)

1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)

1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (d. 1757)

1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (d. 1760)

1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French general (d. 1759)

1724 – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1807)

1792 – Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist, meteorologist, and geographer (d. 1876)

1812 – Berthold Auerbach, German poet and author (d. 1882)

1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)

1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)

1840 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892)

1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)

1851 – Samuel W. McCall, American journalist and politician, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923)

1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)

1865 – Wilfred Grenfell, English physician and missionary (d. 1940)

1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)

1873 – William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish sailor (d. 1912)

1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)

1882 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (d. 1967)

1882 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher, lawyer, and politician, Mexican Secretary of Public Education (d. 1959)

1883 – Seán Mac Diarmada, Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)

1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)

1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (d. 1966)

1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1964)

1895 – Marcel Pagnol, French author, playwright and director (d. 1974)

1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)

1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)

1900 – Wolf Hirth, German pilot and engineer, co-founded Schempp-Hirth (d. 1959)

1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)

1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (d. 1986)

1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)

1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)

1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)

1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (d. 1995)

1911 – Otakar Vávra, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2011)

1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)

1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)

1915 – Zero Mostel, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)

1916 – Cesar Climaco, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th Mayor of Zamboanga City (d. 1984)

1917 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, and producer (d. 2007)

1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)

1919 – Brian Urquhart, English soldier and diplomat, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)

1921 – Pierre Clostermann, French pilot, engineer, and author (d. 2006)

1922 – Yuri Lotman, Russian-Estonian historian and scholar (d. 1993)

1923 – Charles Durning, American soldier and actor (d. 2012)

1924 – Uno Prii, Estonian-Canadian architect (d. 2000)

1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)

1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)

1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American author and educator (d. 2011)

1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)

1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)

1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach

1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect, designed 8 Spruce Street and Walt Disney Concert Hall

1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic

1929 – Rangaswamy Srinivasan, Indian-American physical chemist and inventor

1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1931 – Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi academic and politician, 14th President of Bangladesh (d. 2012)

1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster

1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor

1931 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)

1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician

1934 – Willie Bobo, American Latin Jazz/Afro-Cuban jazz percussionist (d. 1983)

1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer

1938 – Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (d. 2009)

1939 – John Fahey, American guitarist (d. 2001)

1939 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan philosopher and scholar (d. 1987)

1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, singer, dancer, and director

1940 – Aldo Andretti, Italian-American race car driver

1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver

1940 – Joe South, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (d. 2012)

1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)

1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer and manager

1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)

1943 – Hans Dijkstal, Egyptian-Dutch educator and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2010)

1943 – Donnie Iris, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist

1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress and dancer

1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (d. 2014)

1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager

1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (d. 2013)

1945 – Mimsy Farmer, American-French actress and sculptor

1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)

1945 – Linda Preiss Rothschild, American mathematician and academic

1946 – Philip Bailhache, English lawyer and politician

1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)

1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress

1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate

1948 – Mike Figgis, English director, screenwriter, and composer

1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author

1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

1948 – Alfred Sant, Maltese politician, 11th Prime Minister of Malta

1951 – Bill Cratty, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)

1951 – Debora Green, American physician convicted of murder

1953 – Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian race car driver

1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American wrestler, referee, and trainer

1954 – Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

1955 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach

1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer

1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman

1956 – Guy Maddin, Canadian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer

1957 – Paul Delph, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 1996)

1957 – Ainsley Harriott, English chef and author

1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster

1957 – John Turturro, American actor, director, and screenwriter

1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter

1958 – Jack Abramoff, American businessman and lobbyist

1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)

1958 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian journalist and activist (d. 2009)

1958 – Jeanne Mas, Spanish-French singer-songwriter and actress

1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)

1959 – Megan McDonald, American librarian and author

1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress

1961 – Mark Latham, Australian politician

1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer

1962 – Gary Belcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist

1964 – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan sprinter and cyclist

1965 – Colum McCann, Irish-American author and academic

1965 – Norman Smiley, English-American wrestler and trainer

1966 – Vincent Askew, American basketball player and coach

1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer

1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid

1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager

1967 – Martin Tielli, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver

1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

1969 – Patrick Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor

1970 – Daniel Handler, American journalist, author, and accordion player

1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner

1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer

1971 – Peter Stebbings, Canadian actor and director

1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter

1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player

1973 – Scott McLeod, New Zealand rugby player

1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver

1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler

1974 – Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager

1974 – Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager

1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player

1976 – Ali Larter, American actress

1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler

1978 – Jeanne Cherhal, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier

1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player

1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player

1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver

1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player

1979 – Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper

1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer

1980 – Lucian Bute, Romanian-Canadian boxer

1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer

1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player

1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout

1981 – Florent Serra, French tennis player

1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress

1983 – Terry Bywater, English basketball player

1984 – Noureen DeWulf, American actress

1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress

1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer

1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player

1985 – Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian footballer

1986 – Tendai Mzungu, Australian footballer

1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer

1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player

1988 – Jorge Gastélum, Mexican footballer

1988 – Markéta Irglová, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress

1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player

1989 – Kevin Proctor, New Zealand rugby league player

1994 – Jake Bugg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Deaths

628 – Khosrow II, king of the Persian Empire

1105 – Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse (b. c. 1042)

1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1230)

1326 – Leopold I, Duke of Austria (b. 1290)

1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)

1510 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer (b. 1450)

1572 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian and author (b. 1505)

1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)

1648 – Christian IV of Denmark (b. 1577)

1786 – John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713)

1788 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1725)

1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (b. 1809)

1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French author and poet (b. 1790)

1879 – Hortense Allart, Italian-French author (b. 1801)

1891 – George Hearst, American businessman and politician (b. 1820)

1916 – Henry James, American novelist, short writer, and critic (b. 1843)

1925 – Friedrich Ebert, German politician, 1st President of Germany (b. 1871)

1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (b. 1874)

1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (b. 1851)

1935 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1847)

1936 – Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)

1941 – Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)

1942 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889)

1959 – Maxwell Anderson, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1888)

1963 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st President of India (b. 1884)

1966 – Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1931)

1966 – Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)

1967 – Henry Luce, Chinese-American publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (b. 1898)

1977 – Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1905)

1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)

1978 – Eric Frank Russell, English author (b. 1905)

1987 – Stephen Tennant, English author (b. 1906)

1991 – Wassily Hoeffding, Finnish-American statistician and theorist (b. 1914)

1993 – Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)

1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (b. 1909)

1998 – Dermot Morgan, Irish comedian and actor (b. 1952)

1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1930)

2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (b. 1926)

2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (b. 1920)

2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (b. 1928)

2003 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández, Salvadorian general and politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)

2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)

2004 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish author (b. 1921)

2004 – Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian sergeant (b. 1982)

2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)

2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)

2007 – Charles Forte, Baron Forte, Italian-English businessman, founded the Forte Group (b. 1908)

2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)

2007 – Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)

2008 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (b. 1904)

2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)

2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)

2011 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1921)

2012 – Frisner Augustin, Haitian drummer and composer (b. 1948)

2012 – Jim Green, American-Canadian educator and politician (b. 1943)

2012 – Hal Roach, Irish comedian and author (b. 1927)

2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)

2013 – Neil McCorkell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1912)

2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)

2014 – Lee Lorch, American mathematician and activist (b. 1915)

2015 – Alex Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1942)

2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)

2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Abercius (martyr)

Anna Julia Cooper and Elizabeth Evelyn Wright (Episcopal Church (USA))

Hilarius

Mar Abba

Oswald of Worcester

Romanus of Condat

Rufinus

February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Earliest day on which Rare Disease Day can fall, while February 29 is the latest; observed on the last day of February (international)

The third day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá'í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá'í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn't in all years)

Día de Andalucía (Andalusia, Spain)

Kalevala Day, the day of Finnish culture. (Finland)

National Science Day (India)

Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)

Teachers' Day (Arab states)

World Tailors Day (international)