February 28Birthdays & History

On this day: February 28 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 202 BCLiu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.Asia
2. 870The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.Middle East
3. 1525Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés.Latin America
4. 1638The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh.Europe
5. 1835Elias Lönnrot signs and dates the foreword to the first version of the Kalevala, the so-called Old Kalevala.Europe
6. 1844A 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.North America
7. 1922The United Kingdom ends its protectorate over Egypt through a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.EuropeMiddle East
8. 1925The Charlevoix-Kamouraska earthquake strikes northeastern North America.North America
9. 1947February 28 incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the death of an estimated 18,000 - 28,000 civilians.Asia
10. 1948The 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.Africa
11. 1958A 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.North America
12. 1959Discoverer 1, an American spy satellite that is the first object intended to achieve a polar orbit, is launched but fails to achieve orbit.North America
13. 1966A 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.North America
14. 1969The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.EuropeAfrica
15. 1973Aeroflot Flight X-167 crashes during takeoff from Semey Airport, killing 32 people.Asia
16. 1974The British election ends in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieved their biggest vote share since 1929.Europe
17. 1975In London, an underground train fails to stop at Moorgate terminus station and crashes into the end of the tunnel, killing 43 people.Europe
18. 1983The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.North America
19. 1985The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers.Europe
20. 1986Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.Europe
21. 1990Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-36.North America
22. 1993Bureau 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.North America
23. 1997An earthquake in northern Iran is responsible for about 1,100 deaths.Middle East
24. 1997A Turkish military memorandum results in the collapse of the coalition government in Turkey.Middle East
25. 2001The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, having a moment magnitude of 6.8, with epicenter in southern Puget Sound, damages the Seattle metropolitan area.North America
26. 2002During the religious violence in Gujarat, 97 people are killed in the Naroda Patiya massacre and 69 in the Gulbarg Society massacre.Asia
27. 2013Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII in 1415.Europe
28. 2023Two 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.Europe
29. 2024Prime Minister Modi of India inaugurates the 2nd Space Port of India - Kulasekarapattinam Spaceport.Asia
30. 2026The United States and Israel launch attacks across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Retaliatory strikes are launched by Iran against US military bases in the Gulf, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.North AmericaMiddle East

Source: Wikipedia "February 28" / CC BY-SA 4.0