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February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 306 days remaining, 307 in leap years.
Events
- 364 - Valentinian I is elevated
as Roman Emperor.
- 1258 - Hulagu Khan sacks Baghdad
- 1700 - February 28 is followed by March 1
in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.
- 1784 - John Wesley charters the
Methodist Church.
- 1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.
- 1844 - A gun on the 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. The California left New York Harbor on October 6,
1848, rounded Cape Horn at the tip of
South America, and arrived at San Francisco, California after the 4 month 21 day journey.
- 1850 - The University of
Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- 1854 - The United States Republican Party is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.
- 1861 - Colorado is organized as a
United States
territory.
- 1878 - Pierre Fatou, a French
Mathematician is born, who worked on iteration theory which was later analysed by Benoit Mandelbrot.
- 1883 - The first vaudeville theater
is opened, in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1933 - The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after
the Reichstag fire.
- 1935 - Nylon is discovered by Wallace Carothers.
- 1940 - Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).
- 1947 - February 28
Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with large loss of civilian
lives.
- 1948 - Bud Gartiser sets a new world record after clearing the 50-yard low hurdles in 6.8 seconds.
- 1952 - End of 8th Winter Olympic Games in Oslo
- 1953 - James D. Watson and
Francis Crick announced to friends that they have determined the chemical
structure of DNA; formal announcement April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2).
- 1960 - End of 10th Winter Olympic Games 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 is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched
television episode in history.
- 1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.
- 1993 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest cult leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and six Davidians die in
the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.
- 1997 - North Hollywood Shootout Possibly the most violent shootout in modern American police
history.
- 1998 - Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive againt the KLA in
Kosovo.
- 2001 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on
the Richter Scale hits the Northwest area of the United States. There were no reports of any deaths.
- 2002 - Ethnic
conflict in India: At least 55 are killed in Ahmadabad, India when Hindus burn Muslim
homes.
Births
- 1553 - Michel de
Montaigne, writer and philosopher (d. 1592)
- 1683 - René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, scientist (d. 1757)
- 1820 - John Tenniel, illustrator
(d. 1914)
- 1827 - Blondin, French tightrope walker whose spectacular crossings of Niagara Falls (USA/Canada) made him world famous
(d. 1897)
- 1833 - Alfred von
Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)
- 1894 - Ben Hecht, playwright, film
writer (d. 1964)
- 1900 - Wolfram Hirth, pilot and
designer of aircrafts (d. 1959)
- 1901 - Linus Pauling, the only
winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1954 and Peace 1962 (d. 1994)
- 1903 - Vincente
Minnelli, director (d. 1986)
- 1906 - Bugsy Siegel, gangster (d.
1947)
- 1915 - Zero Mostel, actor (d.
1977)
- 1931 - Dean Smith, NCAA basketball coach
- 1938 - Klaus Staeck, graphic artist
- 1939 - Erika Pluhar, actress and singer
- 1939 - Tommy Tune, dancer, choreographer, actor
- 1940 - Mario Andretti,
automobile driver
- 1942 - Brian Jones, musician
("The Rolling Stones") (d. 1969)
- 1942 - Joe South, musician
- 1945 - Bubba Smith, Football Hall of
Famer
- 1946 - Robin Cook, British
politician
- 1948 - Mike Figgis, director, writer, composer
- 1948 - Bernadette Peters, actress, singer
- 1948 - Mercedes Ruehl,
actress
- 1973 - Eric Lindros, ice hockey star
- 2001 - Smarty Jones, winner of
the 2004 Kentucky Derby
Deaths
- 1916 - Henry James, writer (b.
1843)
- 1941 - King Alfonso
XIII of Spain (b. 1886)
- 1942 - Karel Doorman, Dutch
admiral (b. 1889)
- 1959 - Maxwell Anderson,
playwright, film writer (b. 1888)
- 1977 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, actor (b. 1905)
- 1979 - "The famous Mr. Ed", the talking
horse
- 1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
- 1993 - Ruby Keeler, actress,
singer, dancer (b. 1910)
- 2002 - Helmut Zacharias,
german violinist (b. 1920)
Holidays and observances
- Bahá'í Faith - Day 3 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in
the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
February 27 - February
29 - March 1 - January 28 -
March 28 -- listing of all days
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