February 28

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 signs and dates the foreword to the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called 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 is also on board, is 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 death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians. 1948 – The 1948 Accra riots erupt following a march by ex-servicemen of the Gold Coast Regiment towards the seat of the colonial government at Christiansborg Castle, where they were fired upon by Superintendent Colin Imray, leading to the killing of Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey and the arrest of the Big Six in the Gold Coast. 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. 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. 1969 – The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco. 1973 – Aeroflot Flight X-167 crashes during takeoff from Semey Airport, killing 32 people. 1974 – The British election ends in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929. 1975 – In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people. 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers. 1985 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers. 1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm. 1990 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36. 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. 1997 – An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths. 1997 – A Turkish military memorandum results in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey. 2001 – The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the 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. 2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. 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. 2024 – Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport. 2026 – The United States and Israel launch attacks across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Cite news |url= https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-attack-02-28-26-hnk-intl |title=Iran's Supreme Leader killed in US-Israeli strikes |date=28 February 2026 |publisher=CNN |access-date=28 February 2026 Retaliatory strikes are launched by Iran against US military bases in the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

Births Pre-1600 1261 – Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (died 1283) 1518 – Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (died 1536) 1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (died 1592) 1535 – Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (died 1578) 1552 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (died 1632)

1601–1900 1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (died 1726) 1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (died 1757) 1690 – Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, eldest son of Peter the Great (died 1718) 1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (died 1760) 1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German military strategist (died 1913) 1848 – Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (died 1899) 1858 – Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (died 1941) 1866 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (died 1949) 1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1929) 1884 – Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (died 1942) 1887 – William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (died 1966) 1894 – Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1964) 1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965) 1898 – Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (died 1969)

1901–present 1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994) 1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (died 1947) 1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (died 1988) 1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (died 2002) 1909 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (died 1995) 1915 – Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1981) 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987) 1919 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (died 2013) 1920 – Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (died 2014) 1921 – Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (died 2015) 1922 – Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (died 2016) 1924 – Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (died 2014)Fried, Joseph P. "Robert Roe, New Jersey Congressman Called 'Mr. Jobs,' Dies at 90" , The New York Times, July 15, 2014. Accessed July 16, 2014. "Robert A. Roe, who as a congressman from New Jersey for 23 years played a key role in financing projects to expand the nation's highway and mass transit systems and to combat water and ground pollution, died on Tuesday at his home in Green Pond, N.J." 1925 – Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (died 1982) 1928 – Tom Aldredge, American actor (died 2011) 1928 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (died 1976) 1929 – Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (died 2019) 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer (died 2025) 1929 – John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (died 2016) 1930 – Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024) 1931 – Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (died 2020) 1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (died 2021) 1931 – Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (died 1996) 1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (died 2016) 1932 – Ernst Hinterseer, Austria retired alpine skier 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 1940 – Raymond Pointu, French sports journalist (died 2026) 1941 – Alice Brock, American artist, author and restaurateur (died 2024) 1941 – Arthur Ngirakelsong, 2nd Chief Justice of Palau (died 2022) 1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (died 2021) 1942 – Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 1969) 1942 – Oliviero Toscani, Italian photographer (died 2025) 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer 1943 – Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (died 1998) 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress 1944 – Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (died 2014) 1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager 1944 – Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (died 2013) 1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (died 2011) 1946 – Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (died 2005) 1946 – Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (died 2004) 1947 – Salvador Flamenco, Salvadoran footballer 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 (died 2006) 1952 – William Finn, American composer and lyricist (died 2025) 1953 – Luther Burden, American basketball player (died 2015) 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 (died 2022) 1956 – Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (died 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 (died 2012) 1958 – Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey player (died 2021) 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (died 2010) 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer 1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist 1965 – Mikko Mäkelä, Finnish ice hockey player and coach 1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer 1966 – Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid 1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager 1969 – Sean Farrel, English footballer 1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor 1970 – Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer 1972 – Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter 1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey 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 1974 – Gianluca Cherubini, Italian footballer (died 2026)Morto a 52 anni l'ex calciatore della Reggiana Gianluca Cherubini 1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player 1976 – Francisco Elson, Dutch basketball 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