February 28

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2023

February 28 in recent years

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Saturday)

2014 (Friday)

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.
• 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
• 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1601–1900

• 1638 – The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.
• 1835 – Elias Lönnrot signed and dated the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called foreword to the Old Kalevala.
• 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.

1901–present

• 1922 – The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
• 1925 – The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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.
• 1972 – China–United States relations: The United States and China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.
• 1974 – The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote.
• 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 six 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 1993 Australian federal election.
• 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.
• 1997 – A Turkish military memorandum resulted with collapse of the government in Turkey.
• 2001 – The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in the southern Puget Sound, damages Seattle metropolitan area.
• 2002 – During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
• 2004 – Over one million Taiwanese participate 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 Pope Gregory XII, in 1415.
• 2023 – Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of 47 people and leaving another 85 injuries.

Births

Pre-1600

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

1601–1900

• 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)
• 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (d. 1899)
• 1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (d. 1941)
• 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1949)
• 1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1929)
• 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)
• 1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
• 1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (d. 1969)

1901–present

• 1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
• 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)
• 1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
• 1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (d. 1982)
• 1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (d. 1976)
• 1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Sylvia del Villard, actress, dancer, choreographer and Afro-Puerto Rican activist (d. 1990)
• 1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
• 1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-born American architect and designer
• 1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (d. 2020)
• 1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (d. 2021)
• 1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (d. 1996)
• 1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician
• 1937 – Jeff Farrell, American swimmer
• 1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1939 – Tommy Tune, American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer
• 1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American racing driver
• 1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (d. 2021)
• 1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1969)
• 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer
• 1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
• 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress
• 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 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
• 1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author
• 1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
• 1949 – Zoia Ceaușescu, Romanian mathematician, daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (d. 2006)
• 1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler
• 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 (d. 2022)
• 1956 – Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, hunger striker (d. 1981)
• 1956 – Terry Leahy, English businessman
• 1957 – Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
• 1957 – John Turturro, American actor and director
• 1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (d. 2012)
• 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer
• 1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist
• 1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
• 1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid
• 1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager
• 1967 – Seth Rudetsky, American musician, actor, writer, and radio host
• 1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer
• 1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver
• 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor
• 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner
• 1970 – Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor
• 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer
• 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 and model
• 1977 – Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter
• 1977 – Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler
• 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
• 1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer
• 1980 – Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer
• 1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
• 1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout
• 1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and 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
• 1987 – Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player
• 1989 – Carlos Dunlap, American football player
• 1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player
• 1989 – Kevin Proctor, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1990 – Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1994 – Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer
• 1999 – Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player

Deaths

Pre-1600

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

1601–1900

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

1901–present

• 1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician and immunologist (b. 1874)
• 1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer and academic (b. 1851)
• 1936 – Charles Nicolle, French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
• 1966 – Charles Bassett, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1931)
• 1966 – Elliot See, American commander, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1927)
• 1975 – Neville Cardus, English cricket and music writer (b. 1888)
• 1977 – Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American actor and comedian (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)
• 1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress and dancer (b. 1909)
• 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)
• 2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian and librarian (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Chris Curtis, English singer and drummer (b. 1941)
• 2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Annie Girardot, French actress (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Hugo Brandt Corstius, Dutch linguist and author (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Yaşar Kemal, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1923)
• 2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Pierre Pascau, Mauritian-Canadian journalist (b. 1938)
• 2019 – André Previn, German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. (b. 1929)
• 2020 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe's (b. 1930)
• 2020 – Freeman Dyson, British-born American physicist and mathematician (b. 1923)
• 2020 – Sir Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • February 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Kalevala Day, also known as the Finnish Culture Day (Finland)
• National Science Day (India)