February 29 in History

The Flour Massacre took place in the Gaza Strip: Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid amidst the Gaza war, killing over 100 and wounding 750.

During a demonstration, pro-government colectivos shoot at disputed President and Speaker of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó and his supporters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, leaving five injured.

The United States and the Taliban sign the Doha Agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan.

Muhyiddin Yassin is appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, amid the 2020 Malaysian political crisis.

Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to render public transport free nationwide.

In the Miqdadiyah bombing: at least 40 people are killed and 58 others wounded following a suicide bombing by ISIL at a Shi'ite funeral in the city of Miqdadiyah, Diyala, Iraq.

North Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in return for US food aid.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence withdraws Prince Harry from a tour of Afghanistan after news of his deployment is leaked to foreign media.

Misha Defonseca admits to fabricating her memoir, Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in which she claims to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as president of Haiti following a coup.

Angelina Jolie wears a White Marc Bouwer dress to the 76th Academy Awards, which has since been placed on numerous lists for best Oscars fashion.

Chechens attack a guard post near Ulus Kert, eventually killing 84 Russian paratroopers during the Second Chechen War.

Faucett Perú Flight 251 crashes in the Andes; all 123 passengers and crew are killed.

The Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.

A referendum is begun in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the determination of Bosnian independence.

South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.

Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.

Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister of Canada.

Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.

South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from South Vietnam as part of Nixon's Vietnamization policy in the Vietnam War.

Aeroflot Flight 15 crashes Irkutsk Oblast, Soviet Union, due to a loss of control. Eighty-three of the 84 occupants onboard die. The exact cause of the accident is unknown.

British Eagle International Airlines Flight 802/6 crashes into the Glungezer mountain in the Tux Alps of Austria, killing all 75 people aboard.

The 5.7 Mw Agadir earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.

The Admiralty Islands are invaded in Operation Brewer, led by American general Douglas MacArthur, in World War II.

For her performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.

Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations.

In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from Sweden's consul general in San Francisco.

The February 26 Incident in Tokyo ends.

The Czechoslovak National Assembly adopts the Constitution.

Tokelau is annexed by the United Kingdom.

In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill and mine workers is raised from 12 to 14 years old.

The Piedra Movediza (Moving Stone) of Tandil falls and breaks.

James Madison University is founded at Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States as The State Normal and Industrial School for Women by the Virginia General Assembly.

St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated.

The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.

Polish nobles form the Bar Confederation.

Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I on March 24.

February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Julian calendar.

In Queen Anne's War, French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, killing 56 villagers and taking more than 100 captive.

Abel Tasman's second Pacific voyage begins as he leaves Batavia in command of three ships.

Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Jamaican natives to provide him with supplies.

Odo, count of Paris, is crowned king of West Francia (France) by Archbishop Walter of Sens at Compiègne.

Rémi Himbert, French footballer

Lydia Jacoby, American swimmer

Abdukodir Khusanov, Uzbek footballer

Tyrese Haliburton, American basketball player

Ferran Torres, Spanish footballer

Jesper Lindstrøm, Danish footballer

Nelson Asofa-Solomona, New Zealand rugby league player

Norberto Briasco, Argentine-Armenian footballer

Reece Prescod, British sprinter

Claudia Williams, New Zealand tennis player

Sean Abbott, Australian cricketer

Eric Kendricks, American football player

Jessica Long, American paralympic swimmer

Jessie T. Usher, American actor

Saphir Taïder, Algerian footballer

Lena Gercke, German model and television host

Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer

Coco Khan, British writer

Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer

Hannah Mills, Welsh sports sailor

Darren Ambrose, English footballer

Rica Imai, Japanese model and actress

Cullen Jones, American swimmer

Nuria Martínez, Spanish basketball player

Lena Raine, American video game composer and producer

Rakhee Thakrar, English actress

Cam Ward, Canadian ice hockey player

Mark Foster, American singer, songwriter and musician

Çağdaş Atan, Turkish footballer and coach

Simon Gagné, Canadian ice hockey player

Rubén Plaza, Spanish cyclist

Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league player

Taylor Twellman, American soccer player and sportscaster

Peter Scanavino, American actor (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

Vonteego Cummings, American basketball player

Katalin Kovács, Hungarian sprint kayaker

Terrence Long, American baseball player

Ja Rule, American rapper and actor

Sylvie Lubamba, Italian showgirl

Mike Pollitt, English footballer and coach

Antonio Sabàto Jr., Italian-American model and actor

Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain

Dave Williams, American singer (died 2002)

Saul Williams, American singer-songwriter

Pedro Zamora, Cuban-American activist and educator (died 1994)

Chucky Brown, American basketball player and coach

Gareth Farr, New Zealand composer and percussionist

Pete Fenson, American curler

Bryce Paup, American football player and coach

Howard Tayler, American author and illustrator

Eugene Volokh, Ukrainian-American lawyer and educator

Frank Woodley, Australian actor, producer and screenwriter

Dave Brailsford, English cyclist and coach

Carmel Busuttil, former Maltese footballer

Lyndon Byers, Canadian ice hockey player and radio host (died 2025)

Mervyn Warren, American tenor, composer and producer

Khaled, Algerian singer-songwriter

Richard Ramirez, American serial killer and sex offender (died 2013)

Tony Robbins, American author and motivational activist

Knut Agnred, Swedish singer, actor and comedian

Jonathan Coleman, English-Australian radio and television host (died 2021)

Bob Speller, Canadian businessman and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Agriculture (died 2021)

Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer (died 2002)

Tim Powers, American author and educator

Raisa Smetanina, Russian cross-country skier

Bart Stupak, American police officer and politician

Hermione Lee, English author, critic and academic

Manoel Maria, Brazilian footballer

Patricia A. McKillip, American author (died 2022)

Sonny M'Pokomandji, Central African basketball player and politician, Minister of Equipment and Transport (2003–2005)

Dennis Farina, American police officer and actor (died 2013)

Nicholas Frayling, English priest and academic

Phyllis Frelich, American actress (died 2014)

Steve Mingori, American baseball player (died 2008)

Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Italian author and illustrator

Lennart Svedberg, Swedish ice hockey player (died 1972).

Saeed Poursamimi, Iranian actor

Sonja Barend, Dutch talk show host

Bartholomew I, current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Nh. Dini, Indonesian writer (died 2018)

Jack R. Lousma, American colonel, astronaut and politician

Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2020)

Alex Rocco, American actor (died 2015)

Gene H. Golub, American mathematician and academic (died 2007)

Masten Gregory, American race car driver (died 1985)

Reri Grist, American soprano and actress

Jaguar, Brazilian cartoonist (died 2025)

Gavin Stevens, Australian cricketer

Joss Ackland, English actor (died 2023)

Jean Adamson, British writer and illustrator (Topsy and Tim) (died 2024)

Vance Haynes, American archaeologist, geologist and author

Michael Henshall, English Anglican suffragan bishop (died 2017)

Seymour Papert, South African mathematician and computer scientist, co-creator of the Logo programming language (died 2016)

Tempest Storm, born Annie Banks, "The Queen Of Exotic Dancers", American burlesque performer and actress (died 2021)

David Beattie, New Zealand judge and politician, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (died 2001)

Carlos Humberto Romero, Salvadoran politician, President of El Salvador (died 2017)

Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (died 2015)

Fyodor Abramov, Russian author and critic (died 1983)

Arthur Franz, American actor (died 2006)

James Mitchell, American actor and dancer (died 2010)

Michèle Morgan, French-American actress and singer (died 2016)

Rolland W. Redlin, American lawyer and politician (died 2011)

James B. Donovan, American lawyer (died 1970)

Leonard Shoen, founder of U-Haul Corp. (died 1999)

Kamil Tolon, Turkish industrialist (died 1978)

Balthus, French-Swiss painter and illustrator (died 2001)

Dee Brown, American historian and author (died 2002)

Alf Gover, English cricketer and coach (died 2001)

Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (died 1968)

Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer and bandleader (died 1957)

Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (died 1965)

Morarji Desai, Indian civil servant and politician, fourth Prime Minister of India (died 1995)

William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (died 1975)

Augusta Savage, American sculptor (died 1962)

Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician (died 1941)

Herman Hollerith, American statistician and businessman, co-founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (died 1929)

Frank Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian lawyer and judge, fourth Chief Justice of Australia (died 1936)

Prince George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg (died 1912)

Theodor Leber, German ophthalmologist (died 1917)

Dickey Pearce, American baseball player and manager (died 1908)

Emmeline B. Wells, American journalist, poet and activist (died 1921)

James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, eighth Premier of Tasmania (died 1880)

Gioachino Rossini, Italian composer (died 1868)

Ann Lee, English-American religious leader, founder of the Shakers (died 1784)

Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-English dancer (died 1822)

John Byrom, English poet and educator (died 1763)

Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher and author whose name is given to Keach's Catechism (died 1704)

Antonio Neri, Florentine priest and glassmaker (died 1614)

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (died 1638)

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1579)

Domingo Báñez, Spanish theologian (died 1604)

Pope Paul III (died 1549)

Ali Hassan Mwinyi, 2nd President of Tanzania and 3rd President of Zanzibar (born 1925)

Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1939)

Dieter Laser, German actor (born 1942)

Éva Székely, Hungarian Hall of Fame swimmer and 1952 Olympic champion (born 1927)

Wenn V. Deramas, Filipino director and screenwriter (born 1966)

Gil Hill, American police officer, actor and politician (born 1931)

Josefin Nilsson, Swedish singer (born 1969)

Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistani assassin, executed (born 1985)

Louise Rennison, English author (born 1951)

Davy Jones, English singer, guitarist and actor (born 1945)

Sheldon Moldoff, American illustrator (born 1920)

P. K. Narayana Panicker, Indian social leader (born 1930)

Janet Kagan, American author (born 1946)

Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (born 1917)

Akira Yamada, Japanese scholar and philosopher (born 1922)

Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (born 1923)

Jerome Lawrence, American playwright and author (born 1915)

Harold Bernard St. John, Barbadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Barbados (born 1931)

Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (born 1943)

Dennis Danell, American guitarist (born 1961)

Frank Daniel, Czech-American director, producer and screenwriter (born 1926)

Wes Farrell, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1939)

Ralph Rowe, American baseball player, coach and manager (born 1924)

Ruth Pitter, English poet and author (born 1897)

Ludwik Starski, Polish screenwriter and songwriter (born 1903)

Yigal Allon, Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (born 1918)

Gil Elvgren, American painter and illustrator (born 1914)

Florence P. Dwyer, American politician (born 1902)

Tom Davies, American football player and coach (born 1896)

Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet and educator (born 1886)

Frank Albertson, American actor and singer (born 1909)

Melvin Purvis, American police officer and FBI agent (born 1903)

Walter Yust, American journalist and author (born 1894)

Elpidio Quirino, Filipino lawyer and politician, 6th President of the Philippines (born 1890)

Sarah Ann Jenyns, Australian entrepreneur (born 1865)

Robert Barrington-Ward, English lawyer and journalist (born 1891)

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish lawyer, judge and politician, 3rd President of Finland (born 1861)

E. F. Benson, English archaeologist and author (born 1867)

Arthur Mills Lea, Australian entomologist (born 1868)

Giuseppe Vitali, Italian mathematician (born 1875)

Adolphe Appia, Swiss architect and theorist (born 1862)

Ina Coolbrith, American poet and librarian (born 1841)

Frederic Chapple, Australian educator (born 1845)

Ernie Courtney, American baseball player (born 1875)

John Nanson, English-Australian journalist and politician (born 1863)

Pat Garrett, American sheriff (born 1850)

John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish-Australian politician, 1st Governor-General of Australia (born 1860)

Patrick O'Sullivan, Irish-Australian politician (born 1818)

Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin, French astronomer (born 1845)

James Milne Wilson, Scottish-Australian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of Tasmania (born 1812)

Ludwig I of Bavaria (born 1786)

Auguste Chapdelaine, French Christian missionary (born 1814)

Louis-François Lejeune, French general, painter and lithographer (born 1775)

Johann Joachim Eschenburg, German historian and critic (born 1743)

Johann Andreas Stein, German piano builder (born 1728)

John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-English physicist and philosopher (born 1683)

Johann Conrad Peyer, Swiss anatomist (born 1653)

John Whitgift, English archbishop and academic (born 1530)

Caspar Hennenberger, German pastor, historian and cartographer (born 1529)

Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer and diplomat (born 1536/1537)

Patrick Hamilton, Scottish Protestant reformer and martyr (born 1504)

Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (born 1401)

Oswald of Worcester, Anglo-Saxon archbishop and saint (born 925)

Pope Hilarius