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

Events

Pre-1600

• 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.^[1]
• 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.^[2]
• 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.^[3]

1601–1900

• 1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.^[4]
• 1835 – Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called foreword to the Old Kalevala.^[5]
• 1844 – A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who was also on board, was not injured from the blast.^[6]

1901–present

• 1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.^[7]
• 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.^[8]
• 1947 – February 28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 28,000 civilians.^[9]
• 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 one of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history.^[10]
• 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.^[11]
• 1966 – A NASA T-38 Talon crashes into the McDonnell Aircraft factory while attempting a poor-visibility landing at Lambert Field, St. Louis, killing astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett.
• 1969 – The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.^[12]
• 1974 – The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote.^[13]
• 1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.^[14]
• 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.^[15]
• 1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.^[16]
• 1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.^[17]
• 1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh starting a 51-day standoff.^[18]
• 1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.^[19]
• 1997 – A Turkish military memorandum resulted with collapse of the government in Turkey.^[20][21][22]
• 2001 – The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in the southern Puget Sound, damages Seattle metropolitan area.^[23]
• 2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
• 2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415.^[24]
• 2023 – Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.^[25]

Births

Pre-1600

• 1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (d. 1283)^[26][27]
• 1518 – Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (d. 1536)^[28]
• 1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (d. 1592)^[29]
• 1535 – Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (d. 1578)^[30]
• 1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (d. 1632)^[31]

1601–1900

• 1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)^[32]
• 1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (d. 1757)^[33]
• 1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (d. 1760)^[34]
• 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)^[35]
• 1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)^[36]
• 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)^[37]
• 1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)^[38]
• 1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)^[39]
• 1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (d. 1966)^[40]
• 1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1964)^[41]
• 1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)^[42]
• 1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)^[43]

1901–present

• 1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)^[44]
• 1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American theatre and film director (d. 1986)^[45]
• 1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)^[46]
• 1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (d. 1988)^[47]
• 1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)^[48]
• 1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (d. 1995)^[49]
• 1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)^[50]
• 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)^[51]
• 1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)^[52]
• 1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)^[53]
• 1921 – Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (d. 2015)^[54]
• 1922 – Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (d. 2016)^[55]
• 1923 – Charles Durning, American actor (d. 2012)^[45]
• 1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)^[56]
• 1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)^[57]
• 1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian-American writer, daughter of Joseph Stalin (d. 2011)^[45]
• 1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)^[58]
• 1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)^[59]
• 1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)^[60]
• 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer^[61]
• 1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (d. 2016)^[62]
• 1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate^[63]
• 1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (d. 2020)^[64][65]
• 1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (d. 2021)^[66][67]
• 1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (d. 1996)^[68]
• 1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (d. 2016)^[69]
• 1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician^[70]
• 1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer^[71]
• 1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate^[72]
• 1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer^[73]
• 1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American racing driver^[74]
• 1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (d. 2021)^[75]
• 1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)^[76]
• 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer^[77]
• 1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)^[78]
• 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress^[79]
• 1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (d. 2014)^[80]
• 1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager^[81]
• 1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (d. 2013)^[82]
• 1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)^[83]
• 1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)^[84]
• 1946 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)^[85]
• 1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress^[86]
• 1947 – Salvador Flamenco, Salvadoran footballer^[87]
• 1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate^[88]
• 1948 – Mike Figgis, English film director, screenwriter, and composer^[86]
• 1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author^[89]
• 1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress^[90]
• 1949 – Zoia Ceaușescu, Romanian mathematician, daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (d. 2006)^[91]
• 1949 – Ilene Graff, American actress and singer^[86]
• 1953 – Luther Burden, American basketball player (d. 2015)^[92]
• 1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate^[93]
• 1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler^[94]
• 1954 – Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster^[95]
• 1955 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach^[96]
• 1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (d. 2022)^[97]
• 1956 – Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, hunger striker (d. 1981)^[98]
• 1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman^[99]
• 1957 – Ainsley Harriott, English chef and television presenter^[45]
• 1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster^[100]
• 1957 – John Turturro, American actor and director^[101]
• 1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter^[102]
• 1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)^[103]
• 1958 – Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey player (d. 2021)^[104]
• 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)^[105]
• 1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian-American actress^[86]
• 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer^[106]
• 1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist^[107]
• 1965 – Mikko Mäkelä, Finnish ice hockey player and coach^[108]
• 1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer^[109]
• 1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid^[110]
• 1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager^[111]
• 1967 – Seth Rudetsky, American musician, actor, writer, and radio host^[112]
• 1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer^[113]
• 1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver^[114]
• 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor^[115]
• 1969 – Pat Monahan, American singer-songwriter and actor^[86]
• 1970 – Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor^[116]
• 1970 – Daniel Handler, American author, musician, screenwriter, and producer^[86]
• 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner^[117]
• 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer^[118]
• 1971 – Tasha Smith, American actress, director, and producer^[86]
• 1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor^[86]
• 1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter^[119]
• 1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player^[120]
• 1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver
• 1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler^[121]
• 1974 – Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager^[122]
• 1974 – Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager^[123]
• 1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player^[124]
• 1976 – Francisco Elson, Dutch basketball player^[125]
• 1976 – Ali Larter, American actress and model^[126]
• 1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter^[127]
• 1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler^[128]
• 1978 – Geoffrey Arend, American actor^[86]
• 1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier^[129]
• 1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player^[130]
• 1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player^[131]
• 1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver^[132]
• 1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player^[133]
• 1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer^[134]
• 1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer^[135]
• 1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player^[136]
• 1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout^[137]
• 1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress^[138]
• 1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress
• 1985 – Tim Bresnan, English cricketer^[139]
• 1985 – Diego, Brazilian footballer^[140]
• 1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player^[141]
• 1987 – Akito, Japanese professional wrestler^[142]
• 1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer^[143]
• 1987 – Michelle Horn, American actress^[86]
• 1987 – Josh McRoberts, American basketball player^[144]
• 1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player^[145]
• 1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player^[146]
• 1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player^[147]
• 1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler^[148]
• 1990 – Ryan Allen, American football player^[149]
• 1991 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress^[45]
• 1991 – Ronalds Ķēniņš, Latvian ice hockey player^[150]
• 1993 – Marquis Teague, American basketball player^[151]
• 1994 – Alex Caruso, American basketball player^[152]
• 1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer^[153]
• 1995 – Randy Arozarena, Cuban-Mexican baseball player^[154]
• 1995 – Madisen Beaty, American actress^[86]
• 1995 – Quinn Shephard, American actress^[86]
• 1996 – Bobb'e J. Thompson, American actor^[86]
• 1996 – Jakub Vrána, Czech ice hockey player^[155]
• 1997 – Chris Lindstrom, American football player^[156]
• 1999 – Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player^[157]

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 628 – Khosrow II, Shah of Iran, Sasanian Empire (b. c. 570)^[158]

1601–1900

• 1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)^[159]
• 1740 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and patron of the arts (b. 1667)^[160]
• 1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (b. 1809)^[161]
• 1882 – Adolf Zytogorski, Polish-British chess master and translator (b. c. 1811/1812)^[162]

1901–present

• 1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (b. 1874)^[163]
• 1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (b. 1851)^[164]
• 1936 – Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)^[165]
• 1955 – Isak Penttala, Finnish politician (b. 1883)^[166]
• 1966 – Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1931)^[167]
• 1966 – Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)^[167]
• 1975 – Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (b. 1888)^[168]
• 1977 – Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1905)^[169][170]
• 1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)^[171]
• 1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (b. 1909)^[172]
• 1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1930)^[173]
• 2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress and singer (b. 1926)^[174]
• 2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (b. 1920)^[175]
• 2003 – Chris Brasher, Guyanese-English runner and journalist, co-founded the London Marathon (b. 1928)^[176]
• 2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)^[177]
• 2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)^[178]
• 2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)^[179]
• 2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)^[180]
• 2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)^[181]
• 2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)^[182]
• 2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)^[183]
• 2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)^[184][185]
• 2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)^[186][187]
• 2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)^[188]
• 2019 – André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (b. 1929)^[189]
• 2020 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe's (b. 1930)^[190]
• 2020 – Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (b. 1923)^[191]
• 2020 – Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (b. 1917)^[192]

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Kalevala Day, also known as the Finnish Culture Day (Finland)^[193][194]
• National Science Day (India)^[195]
• Peace Memorial Day (Taiwan)^[196]