February 28 Gregorian calendar . There are 306 days remaining until the end of the year (307 in leap years ).
202 BC - this day marks the coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han , initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule over China
364 - Valentinian I is elevated as Roman Emperor .
870 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
1700 - Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden , thus creating the Swedish calendar .
1710 - In the Battle of Helsingborg , 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock .
1784 - John Wesley charters the Methodist Church .
1787 - Charter granted establishing the institution now known as the University of Pittsburgh .
1827 - The Baltimore & 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 , proclaim the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec )
1844 - A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing two United States Cabinet members and several others.
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 , 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor .
1850 - The University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City , Utah .
1854 - The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon .
1861 - Colorado is organized as a United States territory .
1870 - The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire .
1883 - The first vaudeville theater opens in Boston .
1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)
1897 - Queen Ranavalona III , the last monarch in Madagascar , was deposed by a French military force.
1900 - The Second Boer War : The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith " is lifted.
1922 - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt .
1933 - Gleichschaltung Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire .
1935 - Nylon is discovered by Wallace Carothers .
1939 - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin zabavnik was published.
1939 - The word "Dord " is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition 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.
1947 - 228 Incident : In Taiwan , civil disorder is put down at a loss of 30,000 civilian lives.
1953 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA ; formal announcement April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2 ).
1960 - The United States defeats Czechoslovakia 9-4 in ice hockey to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California .
1972 - Sino-American relations : The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué .
1974 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.
1975 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station , London kills 43 people.
1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H USA , becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).
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 , Prime Minister of Sweden , is assassinated in Stockholm .
1991 - First Gulf War ends.
1993 - Bureau of Alcohol agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh . Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
1997 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place.
1998 - Kosovo War : Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo .
2001 - The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle , Tacoma , and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington .
2001 - Six passengers and four railway staff are killed and a further 82 people suffer serious injuries in the Selby rail crash .
2002 - At least 55 are killed in Ahmadabad , India when Hindus burn Muslim homes.
2004 - Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947
2005 - Lebanon 's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami , resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut .
2005 - A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah , Iraq kills 127.
2007 - Jupiter flyby of the New Horizons Pluto -observer spacecraft.
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 – Joost Bürgi , Swiss clockmaker (d. 1632)
1573 – Elias Holl , German Architect (d. 1646)
1612 – John Pearson , English theologian (d. 1686)
1670 – Benjamin Wadsworth , American President of Harvard University (d. 1737)
1675 – Guillaume Delisle , French cartographer (d. 1726)
1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur , French scientist (d. 1757)
1704 – Louis Godin , French astronomer (d. 1760)
1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm , French military commander (d. 1759)
1724 – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend , British field marshal (d. 1807)
1812 – Berthold Auerbach , German poet and author (d. 1882)
1820 – John Tenniel , English illustrator (d. 1914)
1823 – Ernest Renan , French philosopher (d. 1892)
1824 – Blondin , French tightrope walker (d. 1897)
1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen , German field marshal (d. 1913)
1838 – Maurice Lévy , French engineer (d. 1910)
1840 – Henri Duveyrier , French explorer (d. 1892)
1841 – Adrien Albert Marie de Mun , French politician (d. 1914)
1851 – Samuel W. McCall , 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923)
1865 – Wilfred Grenfell , medical missionary (d. 1940)
1878 – Pierre Fatou , French mathematician (d. 1929)
1878 – Artur Kapp , Estonian composer (d. 1952)
1882 – Geraldine Farrar , American soprano (d. 1967)
1882 – José Vasconcelos , Mexican writer (d. 1959)
1882 – Pádraic Ó Conaire , Irish writer (d. 1928)
1894 – Ben Hecht , American playwright (d. 1964)
1895 – Marcel Pagnol , French novelist, playwright and film director (d. 1974)
1896 – Philip Showalter Hench , American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
1900 – Wolfram Hirth , German pilot (d. 1959)
1901 – Linus Pauling , American chemist and activist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
1903 – Vincente Minnelli , American film director (d. 1986)
1906 – Bugsy Siegel , American gangster (d. 1947)
1907 – Milton Caniff , American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates , Steve Canyon ) (d. 1988)
1908 – Billie Bird , American actress (d. 2002)
1908 – Alexander Golitzen , American art director (d. 2005)
1909 – Stephen Spender , English poet (d. 1995)
1911 – Otakar Vávra , Czech film director
1912 – Clara Petacci , Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini (d. 1945)
1915 – Ketti Frings , American Pulitzer Prize -winning playwright and screenwriter, (d. 1981)
1915 – Peter Medawar , Brazilian-born scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1987)
1915 – Zero Mostel , American actor (d. 1977)
1916 – Cesar Climaco , Filipino politician (d. 1984)
1916 – Svend Asmussen , Danish jazz violinist
1917 – Ernesto Alonso , Mexican actor, director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 2007)
1918 – Alfred Burke , British actor
1921 – Pierre Clostermann , French World War II pilot (d. 2006)
1923 – Charles Durning , American actor
1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva , Soviet defector, daughter of Joseph Stalin
1925 – Harry H Corbett , English actor (d. 1982)
1929 – Hayden Fry , American football coach
1929 – Frank Gehry , Canadian-American architect
1929 – John Montague , Irish poet
1929 – Joseph Rouleau , French Canadian bass opera singer
1930 – Leon Neil Cooper , American physicist, Nobel laureate
1930 – Bruce Dawe , Australian poet
1931 – Gavin MacLeod , American actor
1931 – Dean Smith , American basketball coach
1932 – Don Francks , Canadian actor
1933 – Robert Grondelaers , Belgian cyclist (d. 1989)
1933 – Miro Steržaj , Slovenian 9-pin bowler
1933 – Rein Taagepera , Estonian politician
1938 – Foge Fazio , American college football coach (d. 2009)
1939 – Chögyam Trungpa , Tibetan Buddhist meditation master (d. 1987)
1939 – Daniel C. Tsui , Chinese-born physicist, Nobel laureate
1939 – Tommy Tune , American dancer
1940 – Mario Andretti , Italian-American race car driver
1940 – Joe South , American singer
1942 – Frank Bonner , American actor
1942 – Brian Jones , English musician (The Rolling Stones ) (d. 1969)
1942 – Dino Zoff , Italian footballer
1943 – Barbara Acklin , American soul singer (d. 1998)
1943 – Charles Bernstein , American composer
1944 – Win Aung , Burmese politician
1944 – Kelly Bishop , American actress
1944 – Sepp Maier , German footballer
1945 – Bubba Smith , American football player and actor
1946 – Robin Cook , British politician (d. 2005)
1947 – Stephanie Beacham , English actress
1948 – Steven Chu , American physicist, Nobel laureate , U.S. Secretary of Energy -Designate
1948 – Mike Figgis , English director
1948 – Bernadette Peters , American actress and singer
1948 – Mercedes Ruehl , American actress
1951 – Bill Cratty , American modern dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)
1952 – William Finn , American composer
1953 – Ingo Hoffmann , Brazilian racing driver
1953 – Paul Krugman , American economist, Nobel laureate
1953 – Ricky Steamboat , American professional wrestler
1954 – Brian Billick , American football coach
1955 – Gilbert Gottfried , American comedian
1956 – Adrian Dantley , American basketball player
1956 – Jimmy Nicholl , Canadian-born Northern Irish footballer
1956 – Mike Tenay , American wrestling commentator
1956 – Guy Maddin , Canadian film director
1957 – Paul Delph , American musician and producer (d. 1996)
1957 – Ainsley Harriott , British celebrity chef
1957 – John Turturro , American actor
1957 – Cindy Wilson , American singer (The B-52's )
1958 – Natalya Estemirova , Russian activist (d. 2009)
1958 – Ginette Harrison , British mountaineer (d. 1999)
1958 – Jeanne Mas , French singer and actress
1958 – David R. Ross , Scottish historian and writer (d. 2010)
1960 – Dorothy Stratten , Canadian actress (d. 1980)
1961 – Rae Dawn Chong , Canadian actress
1961 – Mark Latham , Australian politician
1961 – Barry McGuigan , Irish boxer
1961 – René Simard , French Canadian singer and TV host
1961 – Eric Bachelart , Belgian racing driver
1963 – Claudio Chiappucci , Italian cyclist
1964 – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , Uzbekistan cyclist
1964 – Fernando del Valle , American tenor
1964 – Lotta Lotass , Swedish writer, member of the Swedish Academy
1965 – Park Gok-ji , South Korean film editor
1966 – Paulo Futre , Portuguese footballer
1967 – Colin Cooper , English footballer
1968 – Stéphan Lebeau , Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Butch Leitzinger , American race car driver
1969 – Robert Sean Leonard , American actor
1969 – Tor Øivind Ødegaard , Norwegian track runner
1969 – Patrick Monahan , American singer (Train )
1970 – Daniel Handler , American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket
1970 – Noureddine Morceli , Algerian athlete
1971 – Maxine Bahns , American actress
1971 – Tristan Louis , American writer
1971 – Junya Nakano , Japanese composer
1971 – Peter Stebbings , Canadian actor
1972 – Rory Cochrane , American actor
1973 – Eric Lindros , Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Nicolas Minassian , French racing driver
1973 – Masato Tanaka , Japanese professional wrestler
1974 – Lee Carsley , Irish footballer
1974 – Moana Mackey , New Zealand politician
1974 – Tangi Miller , American actress
1975 – Mike Rucker , American football player
1976 – Ali Larter , American actress and model
1976 – Adam Pine , Australian swimmer
1976 – Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge , Canadian actor
1977 – Jason Aldean , American country singer
1978 – Jeanne Cherhal , French singer-songwriter
1978 – Yasir Hameed , Pakistani cricketer
1978 – Benjamin Raich , Austrian Olympic skier
1978 – Jamaal Tinsley , American basketball player
1978 – Mariano Zabaleta , Argentine tennis player
1979 – Michael Bisping , English mixed martial artist
1979 – Sébastien Bourdais , French racing driver
1979 – Ivo Karlović , Croatian tennis player
1979 – Primož Peterka , Slovenian ski jumper
1980 – Pascal Bosschaart , Dutch footballer
1980 – Lucian Bute , Romanian-born Canadian boxer
1980 – Esquerdinha , Brazilian footballer
1980 – Piotr Giza , Polish footballer
1980 – Tayshaun Prince , American basketball player
1981 – Brian Bannister , American baseball player
1981 – Florent Serra , French tennis player
1982 – Natalia Vodianova , Russian supermodel
1984 – Ben Fagan , American musician and reality show contestant
1984 – Karolína Kurková , Czech supermodel
1985 – Fefe Dobson , Canadian singer
1985 – Jelena Janković , Serbian tennis player
1985 – Tim Bresnan , Yorkshire and England cricketer
1986 – Mark Sztyndera , German rugby player
1987 – Kerrea Gilbert , English footballer
1988 – Steeve Gerard Fankà , Cameroonian footballer
1988 – Markéta Irglová , Czech songwriter and actress
1989 – Charles Jenkins , American basketball player
1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul , American football player
1991 – Sarah Bolger , Irish actress
2007 – Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco
1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. c.1230s|1230)
1326 – Duke Leopold I of Austria (b. 1290)
1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)
1485 – Niclas, Graf von Abensberg , German soldier (b. 1441)
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)
1746 – Hermann von der Hardt , German historian (b. 1660)
1786 – John Gwynn , English architect and engineer (b. 1713)
1788 – Thomas Cushing , American Continental Congressman (b. 1725)
1857 – André Dumont , Belgian geologist (b. 1809)
1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine , French writer and poet (b. 1790)
1891 – George Hearst , American businessman and US Senator (b. 1820)
1916 – Henry James , American writer (b. 1843)
1925 – Friedrich Ebert , Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871)
1929 – Clemens von Pirquet , Austrian physician (b. 1874)
1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan , French astronomer (b. 1851)
1935 – Chiquinha Gonzaga , Brazilian composer (b. 1847).
1936 – Charles Nicolle , French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866)
1941 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)
1942 – Karel Doorman , Dutch admiral (b. 1889)
1956 – Emile Buisson , French murderer (executed) (b. 1902)
1959 – Maxwell Anderson , American playwright and film writer (b. 1888)
1963 – Rajendra Prasad , First President of India (b. 1884)
1966 – Jonathan Hale , Canadian-born actor (b. 1891)
1967 – Henry Luce , American publisher (b. 1898)
1974 – Bobby Bloom , American singer/songwriter (b. 1946)
1977 – Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson , American actor (b. 1905)
1978 – Philip Ahn , American actor (b. 1905)
1978 – Zara Cully , American actress (b. 1892)
1978 – Eric Frank Russell , English author (b. 1905)
1979 – Paul Alverdes , German writer (b. 1897)
1985 – David Byron , English singer (Uriah Heep ) (b. 1947)
1985 – Ray Ellington , English singer (b. 1916)
1986 – Olof Palme , Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
1986 – Laura Z. Hobson , American novelist (b. 1900)
1991 – Reinhard Bendix , German sociologist (b. 1916)
1991 – Wassily Hoeffding , American statistician (b. 1914)
1993 – Ishiro Honda , Japanese film director (b. 1911)
1993 – Ruby Keeler , Canadian actress and dancer (b. 1910)
1998 – Dermot Morgan , Irish actor and comedian (b. 1952)
1998 – Arkady Shevchenko , Soviet diplomat (b. 1930)
1999 – Christine Glanville , British puppeteer (b. 1924)
2002 – Mary Stuart , American actress (b. 1926)
2002 – Helmut Zacharias , German violinist (b. 1920)
2003 – Chris Brasher , English athlete (b. 1928)
2003 – Dinos Dimopoulos , Greek film director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2003 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández , President of El Salvador (b. 1917)
2003 – Roger Michael Needham , British cryptographer (b. 1935)
2003 – Rudolf Kingslake , English optical engineer (b. 1903)
2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin , American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (b. 1914)
2004 – Carmen Laforet , Spanish writer (b. 1921)
2004 – Andres Nuiamäe , Estonian soldier (b. 1982)
2006 – Owen Chamberlain , American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1920)
2007 – Baron Charles Forte , Italian-born hotelier (b. 1908)
2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and political commentator (b. 1917)
2007 – Billy Thorpe , Australian musician (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs ) (b. 1946)
2008 – Mike Smith , English musician (The Dave Clark Five ) (b. 1943)
2009 – Paul Harvey , American radio broadcaster (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances Liturgical observances References
^ a b *Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints . St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
External links
89 Familypedia people were born on February 28
119 Familypedia people died on February 28
89 Familypedia people were first married on February 28
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